CMC: The Next Generation
by DisneyFanatic2364
Summary: A series of one-shots on the adventures of five fillies (a flightless Pegasus, a snobby unicorn and a set of energetic triplets) and their quest to discover what makes them special and earn their cutie marks. A spin-off of "Daughter of Discord."
1. A New Beginning

**So this will be a series of one-shots, maybe two-shots, for when I'm stuck on my multi-chapter fics. This is a sort of spin-off from _Daughter of Discord. _If you'll remember some of the OC's I created, I wanted to expand on them. The cover art was courtesy of Nstone53.**

* * *

Prism woke up screaming to the sound of a whistle.

"Rise and shine, rookies!" her mother shouted. "We have a big day today and we're not going to waste it in bed!"

Her brother groaned as he pulled a pillow over his head.

"Ten more minutes..."

Their sister shook her head in pity. They knew better than to keep their mother waiting. Rainbow Dash blew her whistle again, this time, right in Thunder Dash's ear. The fifteen-year-old shrieked and fell out of bed.

"Save your laziness for afternoon naps!" their mother ordered. "It's your little sister's first day of school and you two have to take her!"

Lightning Dash, Thunder's twin, grumbled. "We wouldn't have to take her every day if she could..."

"Talking back, eh? Both of you! Drop and give me twenty! With legs!"

The twins whined, but obeyed their mother and began their twenty push-ups.

Prism rubbed her eyes wearily. Today was her first day of fourth grade, which meant goodbye summer, hello early morning exercises.

Once the twins were done with their push-ups, Rainbow blew her whistle and the three siblings hastened into a line.

"Run in place!" she ordered. "Now!"

They hurriedly jogged in place.

"You call that running?!" Rainbow shouted in Thunder's ear. "I've seen Tank run faster than you!" She turned to the tortoise that was sitting on Prism's bed. "No offense, pal."

Tank responded with a slow nod.

"Now on your hind legs! Go!"

The twins did this action with ease, but Prism wobbled as she stood up and fell back on her rump. Rainbow sighed and helped her youngest daughter up.

"Run!"

Prism panted as she attempted to run on her hind legs, trying her best not to fall over again.

"Now drop and give me twenty wing-ups! Go!"

The twins quickly moved to their position in perfect synchronization and pushed their bodies up with their wings. Prism simply dropped down onto all fours. She stretched out her tiny wings and flapped them at the pace her siblings went for wing-ups.

"Faster!" Rainbow commanded.

Prism squeaked and frantically beat her wings.

"Faster! Do you want to be a Wonderbolt or not?!"

"No, ma'am!" the filly piped. "I mean yes, ma'am!"

"Good! Now, the whole routine again! Get back up and run in place!"

They did five sets for each exercise and while the twins were only a little out of breath, Prism was panting hard and dripping with sweat. When both your parents were Wonderbolts, there was no escape from physical activity.

"Great job, kids!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "Now stretch out your muscles while I go wake your lazy father out of bed!"

As their mother flew out of the room, the twins stretched out their strengthened wings.

"Is she our Mom or our drill sergeant?" Thunder wondered aloud.

Lightning huffed as she extended her foreleg across her chest. "Slave driver's more like it. We don't have to go to school anymore, so why do we have to wake up so early?"

"Yeah! Why can't she or Dad take Prism to school?"

"It's not our fault she can't fly!"

Prism wanted to scream that she was standing right there, but she knew it was pointless. As she did her stretches, she reflected on the harsh reality of her life.

Both her parents were Wonderbolts, part of the greatest aerial team in all of Equestria. Only the strongest and fastest of flyers were admitted into that group, which is why Rainbow Dash trained her children long and hard so that they may one day follow into her hoofsteps. The twins actually had a shot of achieving this goal. Not only were they able to fly before they could walk, but they already worked together as a team. They now had a job with the weather crew, particularly for thunderstorms.

Prism was not anything like them. She was nine years old and she still could not fly. Her wings were too small to carry the weight of her body, and that too was small for her age. If she did not have her mother's multi-colored mane and her father's green eyes and light blue coat, she would think she was adopted.

Every pony in her family was an accomplished flyer, so why was she so different?

Rainbow's whistle called the three down for breakfast. Soarin had prepared them flapjacks, Prism's favorite.

"There's my big girl!" the stallion exclaimed, kissing Prism on the forehead. "Fourth grade! You've got to stop growing, kid!"

"Dad!" the filly giggled, pushing him away.

Despite her inability to fly, Prism was her daddy's little girl. Although she told every pony she was embarrassed by it, she secretly enjoyed being the center of her father's attention. It was the one area where her siblings did not excel.

The Dash family was a colorful bunch, mainly because of Rainbow Dash's multi-colored hair. The twins had inherited that hair in a peculiar way. Lightning's mane was orange and yellow, with a thin streak of red in the middle of her head. Thunder's was blue and black, with a streak of purple. Both their manes were wild and thrown back like their father's. They had his light blue coat and their mother's violet eyes. Indeed, it was easy to tell they were all related.

"You have everything packed?" Soarin inquired his youngest daughter.

"Mmm-hmm," Prism replied, though her mind was on other things.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you," Rainbow Dash said. "As you already know, Aunt Rarity's moved back to town to re-open Carousel Boutique, so Gemstone will be in your class."

"Mmm-hmm."

"I know you think her snobby, but I'll bet she's scared about her first day, so make her feel welcome."

"Whatever."

* * *

"Okay, we're here," Lightning Dash gruffly announced. "Now get off."

Prism slid off her sister's back. "Thanks a..."

But the twins had flown off without saying goodbye. This did not surprise the filly, for this always happened.

She looked out at the schoolyard and saw the fillies and colts playing. She recognized them all from last year and winced at the memory of all the names she had been called. Then she caught sight of three fillies over by the merry-go-round. The three were identical with their poofy hair styles and their blue eyes. The only difference between them were their colors. The one spinning was blue with a mane of the same color, only darker. The two riding had the same color scheme, but one was red and the other magenta.

Seeing them calmed Prism's nerves and she race over to them.

"Hey, Tri-Pies!"

The blue filly brought the merry-go-round to an abrupt halt and the triplets looked over at the foal running towards them. Their mouths broke into bright smiles.

"Prism!" they shouted in unison.

She realized too late that calling out to them was a mistake when they all leapt onto her in a dog pile.

"We're so glad you're here!" the blue one called from on top. "Aren't we, Raspberry?"

"You bet we are, Blueberry!" the magenta filly replied. "Right, Cherry?"

"Right!" the red one piped.

Prism grunted as she struggled to pull herself free. The Tri-Pies were her best friends, but they were just as eccentric as their mother, who had a reputation of being the most random pony in Ponyville, possibly Equestria. The only other beings who could measure up to her craziness were her husband Red Shoes and Discord. The triplets were a year younger, but they had started school early and were in the same class as Prism.

"Guys, I need to breathe!" she shouted desperately.

"Sorry!" they cried as they jumped off their friend.

"Are you excited?" Blueberry Pie inquired.

"Cuz we're excited!" Raspberry announced.

"We've never been so excited!" Cherry added.

"Except for our first year of kindergarten!"

"But really!"

"What can top that?"

They continued talking rapidly and finishing each other's sentences to a point where it drove Prism nuts and she shouted:

"Okay, okay!"

The three silenced and looked at the pegasus in concern.

"You alright, Prism?" Raspberry asked.

"You look a little blue," Blueberry said.

"So to speak," Cherry snickered.

"It's nothing," Prism grunted.

"Did you hear the news?!

"We're getting a new student this year!" Blueberry exclaimed.

"And guess who it is!" Raspberry urged.

Prism sighed. "I give up."

The trio squealed and began to tell her. "It's..."

The school bell interrupted them. Prism rolled her eyes, knowing what was to come.

The Tri-Pies gasped dramatically and jumped up and down.

"School! School! School!" they chanted.

"Okay!" Prism screamed, herding the bouncing triplets inside the red building. "How 'bout we get to class before Mrs. Cheerilee gives us detention?"

They gasped dramatically again.

"Detention's _not_ fun!" Blueberry spat.

"Nope!" the other two agreed, shaking their heads.

They hastened inside and to their seats. The Tri-Pies always filled the row up front while Prism sat in the back, slouching and hoping no pony would notice her. While her head was down, she caught sight of the flank of the pegasus colt in front of her.

"Kicks?" she uttered. "You got your cutie mark?"

The green colt with red hair turned to look at the filly. He glanced down at the picture of the boxing glove on his rear and then back up at Prism. He gave her a smug grin.

"Yeah, this summer," he said. "What about you, Penguin? Got yours yet?"

"Nope," Prism groaned. "And my name's not Penguin."

"Really? 'Cuz you've got a lot in common with penguins. After all, they," he laughed as he spread out his wings, "can't fly!"

The filly gripped the edge of her desk, wanting to strangle the colt, but she was snapped back to reality by the tapping of a ruler on Cheerilee's desk.

"Class, please take your seats," the teacher gently demanded. "I trust you had a wonderful summer, but now we must resume our learning experience. I am proud to say that we have a new student joining us this year. Now, I want you all to be nice to her. She just moved from Canterlot."

The classroom atmosphere filled with a lot of "oohs" and "ahs." Kicks gave a long whistle.

"One of them Fancies," he uttered.

Cheerilee smiled and called out the door. "You can come in now, honey."

Prism did not see the filly at first, but she did notice Kicks and the other colts dropping their jaws and drooling. She stretched her neck to get a view, but could not see over Kicks' fat head.

"Every pony," Cheerilee announced, "I'd like you all to meet your newest friend...Gemstone."

Prism tumbled out of her seat, causing every pony's heads to turn to the back. When the pegasus stood herself up, her mouth fell open at the sight of the unicorn filly. There was no mistaking her white fur, her delicately curled dark blue mane and matching eyes.

As if she did not have enough problems.

"Well, Gemstone," Cheerilee said, breaking the silence, "you can sit next to Prism today, as you already know each other."

As soon as Prism was in her seat, she sank deep into it, hoping to disappear. She did not even look at Gemstone as she sat beside her.

"To start off," Cheerilee said, "why don't we go around and share what we did over the summer? Who wants to go first?"

Prism perked up and eagerly raised her hoof.

"Yes, Prism?"

"This summer," the pegasus said proudly, "I helped defeat an army of changelings that tried to take over Equestria!"

There was a long silence. Then the class roared with laughter.

"Yeah, right!" Kicks exclaimed. "I'm sure you really picked a fight with them! I'm sure you did a sonic rainboom too! Oh, wait. You have to fly to do that!"

"It's true!" Prism insisted. "Ask the Tri-Pies! They were there!"

"Indeed-a-rooni!" Cherry piped. "We exploded those meanie changelings with our party cannons!"

"And Daddy smushed them with our giant bunny!" Blueberry declared.

"But in the end, true love conquered all!" Raspberry finished.

The class laughed harder.

"Children, please!" Cheerilee commanded.

Prism tried to make herself as small as possible. Then she turned to Gemstone, the only foal in the room, other than the Tri-Pies, who wasn't laughing. Instead, she was silently gazing down at her folded hooves

"Gemstone!" Prism pleaded. "You know what happened! Tell them!"

"Yeah, go on, sweetie!" Kicks taunted. "Tell us!"

The unicorn glanced up and blushed when she saw that all eyes were on her. She glanced around the room and then at Prism.

"I..." she muttered. "I don't know what you're talking about."

The pegasus sent her a glare and made sure Gemstone had received it before turning away from her entirely.

* * *

"Cherry Bomb!" Cherry Pie called as she bounced the ball high in the air.

Her sisters and Prism scrambled to catch it, but in their efforts they collided into each other. The ball landed outside of the four chalk-drawn boxes.

"Ow!"

Gemstone rubbed her head. "Watch where you're throwing that thing!"

"Sorry," Cherry giggled. "We're playing by the Europonian rules! You know, from Europony!"

"Europony?"

"Of course I'm a pony, silly!"

"You wanna play, Gem?" Blueberry asked.

"It'll be fun!" Raspberry exclaimed.

"It's _four _square," Prism snapped, "not _five_ square!"

"Come on, she can play!" Cherry insisted. "She can just wait until one of us gets knocked out!"

"But I don't know how to play," Gemstone explained.

"It's easy!" Blueberry declared. "There are four positions. Right now, I'm the King, Prism's the Queen, Cherry's the Knight..."

"And I'm the Court Jester!" Raspberry squealed.

"The object of the game is to eliminate the others from the court. Usually you have to hit the ball into some pony else's square, but we're just passing it for this one. Just watch us play and you'll get it! Since I'm the King, I start. Remember, no pass-backs!"

The blue pony bounced the red ball across to Raspberry's square. She passed it to Prism, Prism passed it to Cherry and so on. After a few more passes, Raspberry got the ball, rushed to the middle and called:

"Baby Cradle!"

The other three hastened to the center and laid their hooves on the ball. Cherry was the last one to reach it.

"Oopsie!" she snorted cheerfully. "Looks like I'm out!"

She moved out of her square, allowing Raspberry to move in.

"Now I'm the Knight," the magenta filly explained to Gemstone, "and you're the Court Jester."

The unicorn scoffed. "I, a Court Jester?! Why can't I be the Queen?!"

Prism rolled her eyes. "You have to earn it!"

"It works like this," said Blueberry. "If I get eliminated, I go out, Prism becomes King, Raspberry becomes Queen, you become the Knight and Cherry goes in as the Jester. If Prism goes out, Raspberry's promoted to Queen, you the Knight, Cherry the Court Jester. If Raspberry goes out..."

"She gets it, already!"

"If the ball bounces twice in your square," Raspberry said, "or bounces in your square first and then goes out, then you're out. There are also a lot of tricks you can do to get some pony out."

"Like Cherry Bomb!" Cherry Pie cheered. "That's my favorite! It's when you bounce the ball really, really, really high!"

"My personal favorite is Disco Ball! That's when we all gotta dance!"

"And you'll get the rest as we go along," Blueberry said. "We'll go easy on ya."

The blue filly bounced the ball to Gemstone's square and she caught it feebly. She glanced between the fillies, not sure what to do. After a pause, she tossed it to Raspberry.

"Silly!" Raspberry snorted, passing it back to her. "You're supposed to _bounce_ it! Try again!"

"Ugh!" Gemstone whined. "This game is hard!"

"Then maybe you shouldn't play," Prism mumbled. "It would make every pony's lives easier."

"Maybe you should be the Joker, Prism!" Blueberry laughed, nudging the pegasus in the side. "Just bounce it in Rasp's square. Come on, Gem! You can do it!"

The unicorn cringed as she weakly did what the blue filly commanded. Raspberry grinned and tossed the ball into the air.

"Disco Ball!" she cried.

"What?" Gemstone asked.

The others danced in place. Blueberry was doing the moonwalk, Raspberry was doing the worm, while Prism was begrudgingly moving her hips from side to side. The unicorn just stood there in confusion.

"Come on, Gem!" Cherry shouted from the sidelines. "Shake 'em!"

"Shake what?" Gemstone pleaded.

Raspberry looked up and gasped. "Gem! Look out!"

"Huh?"

The unicorn shrieked as the rubber ball landed on her horn and deflated.

"Oopsie!" Raspberry giggled. "Guess I miscalculated that throw!"

"Great going, Gem!" Prism groaned. "Now we don't have a ball!"

"Aw, it's okay!" Blueberry insisted. "We can get a new one!"

"Whatever," Gemstone grunted as she shoved the flat piece of rubber off her horn. "I didn't want to play this silly game anyway."

The unicorn turned her back on the group and stomped away in a huff.

"Canterlot snob," Prism muttered.

* * *

"Why didn't you tell me Gemstone was gonna be in my class?" Prism demanded.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "I told you this morning, but you didn't listen!"

"But why? Why _my_ class?"

"Your school is the only one in Ponyville."

"Then homeschool me!"

"I don't get why you're so upset. I thought you and Gemstone were friends."

"No, we're not! She's prissy, rude, and a Canterlot snob!"

"Hey! Your Aunt Twilight, the princess, happens to be from Canterlot! Not to mention Rarity's lived there for about a decade now."

"Okay, so Aunt Twilight and Aunt Rarity aren't all snobby, but Gem's just impossible! You know she said I was uncouth?! What is uncouth, anyway?"

"Now look here! I don't want you talking that way about any kid of any of my best friends, okay? And I don't want one of my own kids acting like she's better than every pony else!"

Prism was taken aback by this. "What?! No! It's Gemstone who thinks she's better than every pony, not me!"

"Well, you acting the same way makes you no better than her! While we're gone, I expect you to be nice to Gemstone."

"Wait. You're leaving?"

"Our summer vacation ends this week. Your dad and I have to perform with the Wonderbolts. But don't worry. Aunt Scootaloo will be here to watch you guys."

This lifted the filly's spirits up. "Aunt Scootaloo's coming?"

"Yep. She and the band have finished their tour and I asked her to come down here for a few weeks."

Prism jumped up and down. "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh! Aunt Scootaloo's the most awesomest pony every! After you and Dad, of course."

The idea of her favorite aunt coming to visit made her feel a lot better, but it still did not change the fact that she would be sharing a classroom with some pony she disliked.

* * *

As the week went by, Prism kept her distance from Gemstone. It was not easy, because the unicorn sat next to her in class and no pony would switch seats with her. The Tri-Pies would also invite her to play with them. She would often refuse, because most of their games involved getting dirty. When she did play, Prism would ignore her.

One day, they were all playing Monkey in the Middle when Kicks showed up and started laughing at them. The five turned to the pegasus colt in confusion.

"And what are you laughing at?" Prism demanded.

"I'm sorry!" Kicks exclaimed, though his tone clearly indicated he was not. "I just find it amusing that all the blank flanks are playing together!"

The pegasus filly put her hoof on her hip. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Don't you know? The five of you are the only ones in the class who don't have their cutie marks yet!"

"So what?" Cherry shrugged.

"We are the youngest in the class," Blueberry pointed out.

"That's no excuse for Penguin here!" Kicks scoffed, looking toward Prism. "Actually, it's no wonder she doesn't have a cutie mark, considering she can't even fly!"

Prism cried out and the Tri-Pies had to hold her back to keep her from strangling the colt.

"Let me at him!" she shouted, lashing out her hooves. "Let me at him!"

Kicks laughed again and turned to Gemstone. "What's a pretty filly like you doing hanging around these losers?"

Gemstone looked between the fillies and Kicks. "They're my friends."

"We are not your..." Prism started to scream, but was interrupted by the colt.

"You could play with us, instead! Or rather, since we're playing basketball, you can be our cheerleader!"

The unicorn blinked. "Cheerleader?"

"It's not hard. All you have to do is look pretty and cheer for our team."

"Well," Gemstone said, shyly running a hoof through her mane, "I can look pretty"

"But what about our game?" Raspberry asked with a pout.

"Um, uh...later."

The Tri-Pies watched in disbelief as Gemstone followed Kicks to the basketball court. Prism only scowled.

"I knew we couldn't trust her," she grunted.

"Oh, I'm sure she just wants to play with some pony else for a change," Blueberry insisted.

"That jerk called us blank flanks!"

"But Prism," Cherry said, "we _are_ blank flanks."

"Yes, but he didn't have to rub it in our faces!" She glanced at her bare behind. "Bad enough that I can't fly, but he has to pick on me for this too?!"

"We're in no hurry to get our cutie marks," said Raspberry. "These things happen when they happen."

"And we can't fly either," Cherry pointed out.

Prism looked at the trio warily and then back at her flank. "I'll show him! I'll get my cutie mark! And it'll be even more awesome than his!"

* * *

Prism was surprised to see who was waiting to take her home. It was not one of the twins, nor her parents. Standing at the gate, the crook of her foreleg leaning against the post, was an orange pegasus with a wild purple mane and dark violet eyes decorated with black eyeliner. Around her neck was a spiked collar and she wore a motorcycle jacket to go with it. This made her look twenty percent cooler than she already was.

"Aunt Scootaloo!" the filly cried, picking up the pace.

"Hey, Rainbow Junior!" the mare exclaimed, welcoming the filly in for an embrace.

As she took Prism in her forelegs, she ruffled her multi-colored mane.

"I haven't seen you since the Grand Galloping Gala," said Scootaloo.

"Yeah, you and the CMC rocked that party!" Prism cheered.

"And you've sure grown since then. How are those wings doing?"

The filly sighed. "Still a flightless bird. Are you flying me home?"

Scootaloo raised an eyebrow. "Fly? Kid, when are you going to learn that my way is the only way to travel?"

She pointed to the purple scooter leaning against the fence. It was a simple scooter with orange flames painted on the side, but Prism was in awe of it. Scootaloo tossed her a helmet while she strapped on her own. The mare stepped onto her scooter and gestured for the filly to hop on.

"Where to, RJ?" Scootaloo asked.

"Sugar Cube Corner!" Prism exclaimed eagerly.

"Got it! Hold on to your hooves!"

Scootaloo flapped her wings rapidly and pushed her hoof off the ground to get the scooter started. Prism held on tight to her aunt's waist as they got going really fast. Even though Scootaloo was not technically her aunt, she was still the awesomest pony in all of Equestria!

Pinkie Pie no longer worked at Sugar Cube Corner, since the Cake twins were old enough to run the store and the Tri-Pies made the place crowded. Instead, she and Red Shoes opened up their own shop called The Party Palace, where they sold party supplies and novelty items.

That was why the pink mare was not there to greet them at the bakery, but an adolescent unicorn with an orange mane.

"Oh, Scootaloo!" she exclaimed. "Good to see you again! How was the tour?"

"Oh," the pegasus said with a shrug. "You know. Good times, bad times. We did run into a buffalo stampede on our way to Appleoosa. They thought our bus was some sort of evil spirit. I told Sweetie Belle we shouldn't have made it look like a bunny!"

"Wow. That must have been exciting! Why don't you have a seat? What can I get you two?"

"The usual, Pumpkin," Scootaloo said, leaning back in her chair.

Pumpkin Cake nodded and went into the kitchen.

"So how have things been at school?" Scootaloo asked Prism. "I hear Gemstone's in your class now."

The filly grunted. "Yeah."

"That must be fun."

Prism pounded her hoof on the table. "Fun?! She's a real pain in the flank! Not to mention a dirty double-crosser!"

"Whoa, whoa, girl! What's this all about?"

Once Pumpkin Cake had handed Scootaloo her chocolate milkshake and Prism her rainbow fudge sundae, the filly explained what had happened at recess that day.

"She went to play with that jerk who had just called us blank flanks! And he called me a penguin! Again!"

"Gee, do I know what that feels like," Scootaloo said as she sipped her milkshake.

"But I'm going to show that dip face! I'm going to get my cutie mark and he'll be the one crying once he sees how amazing it is! I'm also gonna learn to fly too!"

"Slow down, squirt. Your wings aren't ready yet. As for your cutie mark, that takes time too."

"But I don't have time! I don't want to be known as the filly who was last in her class to get her cutie mark! I'll get mine before Gemstone!"

"Prism, listen to me. Life's not a competition. Okay, maybe it's got a little competition, but something like this doesn't happen overnight. You'll get your cutie mark and be able to fly in time, but that time is not now."

"But Mom was the first in her class to get her cutie mark! So were the twins! And they could fly before they could walk! Do you know how embarrassing it is to come from a family of flyers and to not be able to get off the ground?"

Scootaloo sighed. "You'd be surprised."

Prism tilted her head in confusion. "What?"

"I mean my family wasn't renowned for their flying, but I was a lot like you at your age. I was a blank flank too and my wings were too small to get me off the ground."

"What?" Prism said again. "_You_ were a blank flank too?"

"Every pony's born a blank flank. Some ponies, like you and me, are just late bloomers. I was upset at first, but after a while," she spread out her wings, "my wings grew to their full size," she glanced at the red scooter on her flank, "and I discovered my special talent."

"How?" the filly begged, leaning forward. "_How_?!"

"I had a little help." Scootaloo grinned. "Do you know why Applebloom, Sweetie Belle and I named our band the Cutie Mark Crusaders?"

Prism thought for a moment and shrugged. "It sounds cool?"

"Well, yeah, but the three of us became friends because we were the only ones in our class without cutie marks. Then we started our own secret society so that we would help each other earn our cutie marks. Even after we got them, the name sort of stuck. You know, your brother and sister were Cutie Mark Crusaders too."

The filly scratched her head and then her face lit up in realization. "Oh, yeah! I remember!" She pouted. "They hardly ever let me into their clubhouse! Wait. Is that clubhouse still there?"

"It should be. It belongs to the Apple family though, so if you and your friends want to use it, you'll have to ask them first."

Prism stood up from her chair. "This is great! I'll get the Tri-Pies and together, we'll earn our cutie marks! Then Kicks will have one less thing to tease me about!"

"Now take it easy, RJ. I know you're excited and all, but remember, no matter how hard you try, you just can't force..."

"Yeah, yeah. So when can we go see the clubhouse?"

Scootaloo shook her head with a laugh. "You're a lot like me, you know that, kid? Before we go, I have to tell you the secret and you must promise not to tell any pony outside the Cutie Mark Crusaders."

Intrigued, Prism leaned in closer. "What is it?"

* * *

When Applejack answered the door, she was cradling her weeping pony-dragon infant in her hooves.

"Hush now, Applespike," she whispered. "It's naptime. Go to sleep."

She looked at the four fillies apologetically. "Be right back."

She shut the door and returned a minute later empty-hooved.

"Sorry, gals. Spike's runnin' errands in town and the kids are buckin' apples with Big Macintosh, leavin' me with the baby. If ya think an ordinary foal would be a hoof-full, try tendin' one that's half dragon!" She sighed as she wiped the sweat off her brow. "So what can I do y'all for?"

"You see, Aunt Applejack," Prism said, "the Tri-Pies and I were wondering if we could use your clubhouse."

"We're going to start our own secret society!" Raspberry piped.

"To earn our cutie marks!" Blueberry shouted.

"Shush!" Cherry whispered. "That's supposed to be a secret!"

Applejack chuckled. "Well, this seems familiar. Sure, y'all can use it. Cinnamon Roll can take y'all to it. She's over there yonder."

She stiffened as smelt something burning. "Whoa, nilly! He burped again! Excuse me, girls! I gotta get the fire extinguisher!"

Once the country mare had disappeared into the house, the four fillies walked up the hill to where a brown filly a few years older than them with platinum hair was bucking apple trees.

"Hey, Cinnamon Roll!" Prism cried.

The older filly turned to them with a smile and spoke in an accent that was not quite southern but had a hint of it. "Howdy, girls! What brings you around these parts? Come to get some apples?"

"Actually, your mom said we could use your clubhouse. See, we..."

"Want to be Cutie Mark Crusaders?" Cinnamon Roll finished with a smirk. "Was wonderin' when you gals were gonna come around! Follow me!"

She led them down the hill and through some trees, until they came across an old treehouse. It was not in its best condition, with the paint peeling away and the shingles sliding off the roof, but it was still standing strong.

"Now," Cinnamon Roll said, "did any pony tell y'all about the secret compartment?"

Prism nodded. "Aunt Scootaloo told me this afternoon."

"Then I guess my work here is done. I gotta get back to the orchard. Have fun, y'all!"

The older filly trotted off, leaving the younger fillies to stare at the clubhouse.

"It's so...old!" Cherry said with a cringe.

"So...tiny!" said Raspberry.

"So..." Blueberry said, her frown turning into a smile, "awesome!"

The other two grinned in agreement. "Yeah!"

The triplets zoomed forward and up the steps, running over Prism in the process. After spitting the grass out of her mouth, she followed the Tri-Pies into the treehouse. They all gazed at it in awe.

"Lookie, lookie!" Blueberry cried, gesturing to a drawing on the wall. "A map of Ponyville!"

"And a thinking spot!" Raspberry piped, pointing to a target on the floor.

"And a judging table!" Cherry exclaimed as she appeared behind a podium. She put on a serious face and slammed her hoof on the wood. "Order in the court!" Then she giggled. "This place is so cool!"

"This is going to be so fun!" Raspberry shouted, jumping up and down. "We're going to be Cutie Mark Crusaders!"

"Hold it, guys!" Prism said. "We have to find the secret compartment first."

"What is this secret compartment anyway?" Blueberry inquired.

"If she told you," Cherry said, rolling her eyes, "it wouldn't be a secret now, would it?"

"Aunt Scootaloo said it's the place where all the secret Cutie Mark Crusader stuff is kept," Prism explained, her eyes scanning the clubhouse. "Aunt Applebloom built it years ago, and it can only be opened using..." She gazed up at the lantern hanging above the thinking spot. "This!"

The pegasus leapt up and tried to reach it, but her hoof did not even make it close to touching. She tried again, but her jumps were too short. _Ugh! _she cursed to herself. _I hate being little!_

After several more attempts, Cherry Pie coughed and moved in front of her.

"Watch and learn."

Cherry glanced up at the lantern, crouched down low and shouted, "Cherry Bomb!"

With a loud _sproing! _she leapt up like a bunny rabbit and grabbed hold of the lantern. Her weight caused it to drop down with a _click! _The others turned around as they heard the sound of gears turning. A small door opened in the wall, revealing a cubby filled with...

"Stuff!" the Tri-Pies cheered, racing toward the cubby, thus knocking Prism over again.

"Wow!" Blueberry exclaimed, pulling out an array of red capes. "Check these out!"

"And this!" Raspberry said, withdrawing an old book.

She blew the dust off the cover, causing the three of them to sneeze simultaneously.

"_The Cutie Mark Crusaders Memory Book_," Raspberry read.

"I found another one!" Cherry said, waving another book in her hoof. "It says _The Cutie Mark Crusaders Rule Book_!"

"Let me see that," Prism said, snatching it from the red filly.

The pegasus opened the book to the front page and the triplets gather around her as she read:

"_Fellow Blank Flank,_

_Congratulations on finding our secret stash with ease. The only reason you were able to find this is because a current or former Cutie Mark Crusader told you of its location. We started this club, because we were like you once. Unlike most fillies and colts, we were late in earning our cutie marks and we didn't think we were special because of it. We joined forces and helped each other in discovering our special talents. We're not going to sugar-coat it. It will be a long and tedious process, but if you all help each other, you will make it._

_Inside this compartment, you'll find capes (which you can make more of if necessary) and a memory book filled with the adventures of past Crusaders. Be sure to have new adventures and put them in this book._

_To get started, you'll find the newly revised Cutie Mark Crusaders Pledge on the next page._

_Remember, you are not alone._

_Sincerely,_

_Applebloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo_."

"Wow!" Cherry marveled. "That must have been written like a hundred years ago!"

Prism rolled her eyes as she turned to the next page. "Okay, so all we gotta do is say the pledge and we'll officially become Cutie Mark Crusaders!"

"Ooh!" Raspberry piped. "This is so nervi-citing!"

"What does the pledge say?" Blueberry demanded. "What does the pledge say?"

Cherry leaned over to read it. "_I, insert name here_..."

Prism put her hoof to her head. "You're supposed to say your name, Cherry!"

"Oh, right. I knew that!"

"Okay, do you guys want to go one at a time or do you want to do it together?"

"Let's do it together!" Blueberry insisted.

"Things are a lot funner when we do them together!" Raspberry nodded.

"I agree!" Cherry exclaimed.

"Very well," Prism said, placing the book down. "Raise your right hoof and repeat after me."

The triplets obeyed with a smile.

"_I, Prism_..."

"_I, Prism_..." they mimicked.

"Your _own _names!"

"Your _own_ names!"

Prism shook her head, but had an idea and tried again.

"_I, Blueberry, Raspberry and Cherry_..."

"_I, Blueberry, Raspberry and Cherry_..."

"..._blank flank_..."

"..._blank flank_..."

"..._hereby pledge to be loyal, caring, respectful and honest to my fellow Cutie Mark Crusaders_."

"..._hereby pledge to be loyal, caring, respectful and honest to my fellow Cutie Mark Crusaders_."

"_And to never give up_..."

"_And to never give up_..."

"..._never surrender_..."

"..._never surrender_..."

"..._to those who have shunned me and belittled me for the bareness of my behind_."

The triplets snickered as they repeated this.

"_I will wear my cape with pride and keep the secrets of the Cutie Mark Crusaders within the walls of the clubhouse until the day I earn my cutie mark_."

"_I will wear my cape with pride and keep the secrets of the Cutie Mark Crusaders within the walls of the clubhouse until the day I earn my cutie mark_."

Prism put her hoof down and the triplets followed her movement.

"It's official!" the pegasus announced, grinning widely. "We are Cutie Mark Crusaders!"

* * *

**Just to be clear, the Tri-Pies are the daughters of Pinkie Pie and my OC Red Shoes, Gemstone is the daughter of Rarity and Fancy Pants, and Prism is the youngest daughter of Rainbow Dash and Soarin. I think of the foals I created in _Daughter of Discord_, Prism was my favorite and I found her an interesting character to expand upon. And yes, in this universe, Applejack is married to Spike and they have a cross-breed baby named Applespike along with two adopted foals named Cinnamon Stick and Cinnamon Roll. This is supposed to be about twenty years or so after the events of the show.**

**That four square game was based on the rules my friends and I played, and yes, we bounced the ball instead of hitting it.**

**I liked writing this, because it's more light-hearted compared to the other stuff I've been writing recently. Also, this older version of Scootaloo kind of reminds me of my own aunt. Don't worry, I haven't given up on _Twelfth Night_. This was just a break, but there will be more one-shots in the future.**


	2. Odd One Out

**What can I say? I felt like doing another!**

* * *

Prism picked up the pace as she neared the old treehouse. Thanks to their Aunt Applebloom, it was newly renovated and painted, this time with a rainbow roof and pink walls. When she reached the entrance, she found the Tri-Pies on the floor, huddled around a book.

"Ooh!" Cherry piped, pointing to a picture in the book. "Is that Mommy?"

"She's so pretty!" Raspberry marveled.

"And she's in a giant lettuce!" Blueberry exclaimed. "Cool!"

"What are you guys looking at?" Prism asked.

The triplets looked up and replied in unison, "_The Cutie Mark Crusaders Memory Book!_"

"There's a lot of cool stuff in here!" Blueberry declared. "Look!"

She held up the book to Prism's face. On the page was a group photo of four fillies in red capes: two earth ponies, a pegasus and a unicorn. They were all standing in front of the clubhouse, their hooves on each other's shoulders.

"See?" Blueberry said, pointing to the yellow earth filly with the big red bow. "That's Auntie Applebloom, the unicorn's Auntie Sweetie Belle and the pegasus must be Auntie Scootaloo! I don't know who the other filly is, but she looks familiar."

Prism squinted and read the caption underneath: "_The Cutie Mark Crusaders welcomes their newest member: Babs Seed._ Oh, I know who that is! I saw her at the last Apple Family Reunion! She's Aunt Applebloom's cousin, I think."

Blueberry turned a few more pages. "And look at this!"

The picture on that page showed a bunch of new foals wearing the same capes and standing in front of the clubhouse. Four were fillies, two were colts. Prism recognized the two pegasi in the middle as her brother and sister. She figured that the yellow filly standing shyly next to Thunder Dash was Apple Blossom, his current girlfriend. She also spotted their unicorn friend Dinky and Cinnamon Stick, Cinnamon Roll's older brother. There was no guessing who the earth pony with spiral purple eyes and propeller hat was.

"I was thinking," Blueberry announced, "that since we're Cutie Mark Crusaders now, we could take a group photo and add it to the memory book!"

"That's a great idea!" Prism declared. "That way generations of Cutie Mark Crusaders can look back and see how awesome we were!"

"Ooh!" Cherry chimed, bouncing up and down. "That'll be fun!"

"Let's go tell Gemstone about it!" Raspberry insisted.

The pegasus filly's face fell. "Gemstone?"

"She is joining us, isn't she? I mean she's a blank flank too! Besides, she's our friend!"

Prism stomped her hoof. "No! No way are we letting that Canterlot snob join our club!"

The triplets blinked at her in confusion.

"Why not?" Cherry asked.

"Because...because...because she'll just act like she owns the place and treat us like dirt like she always does! Besides, some pony of _her_ background is obviously too important to be part of our group!"

* * *

When the bell rang for recess, Prism felt some pony tap her on the shoulder. She turned and, much to her discontent, saw the white unicorn with the blue, shiny, curled mane.

"What do you want, Gem?" the pegasus groaned.

Gemstone glanced down at her hoof and watched it draw circles into the floor. "I...I heard you and the triplets started a club. The Cutie Mark Crusaders?"

Prism folded her hooves. "Yeah? What's it to you?"

The unicorn looked up at her with pleading eyes. "I...I was wondering if I could join you, since..."

She glanced back at her flank, not wanting to say it.

"Sorry," Prism grunted, turning to leave. "Invitation only."

But Gemstone caught up to her side in persistence. "Then invite me! Please?"

"Sorry. The club's strictly for Ponyville folk!"

The unicorn glared at her. "That's just racist!"

"No. Racist would be if there were no unicorns allowed. We just can't allow Canterlot snobs like you!"

Gemstone stepped in front of the pegasus. "Snobs?! I'm not a snob! I'm just...more privileged."

Prism snorted angrily. "Like I said. Snob!"

"But you have to let me in! My Auntie Sweetie Belle started this club! I'm a legacy!"

"I have no idea what that means, but you're not allowed in the club and that's final!"

The pegasus pushed the unicorn aside and stomped away. Gemstone watched her back with sadness and fury. She clenched her hoof as the blood boiled inside her.

"Fine!" she shouted. "I don't need your stupid club! I'll make my own! That'll show you!"

"Yeah, yeah," Prism grumbled.

* * *

When Scootaloo dropped her off the next day, Prism spotted Gemstone across the playground, surrounded by colts and a few fillies. She approached the group to see what was going on.

"So you just rinse, lather and repeat three times, get the curling iron and _voilà_! You'll have a mane as fabulous as mine!"

"Your hair is so pretty, Gemstone!" one of the colts sighed.

"Look at your hooves!" a filly exclaimed. "How'd you get them to be so shiny?"

"I polish them every day!" Gemstone declared. "And I get a hooficure every week at the spa! You should really try it. It's simply luxurious!"

"What's this all about?" Prism demanded.

Every pony turned to the pegasus. Gemstone looked down on her with disdain.

"Oh, hello, Prism," she said flatly. "Have you met my new friends? This is the Fabulosity Club!"

"The Fabu...is that even a word?!"

The Tri-Pies zipped over.

"Ooh!" Cherry uttered. "Sounds like fun!"

"Can we join?" Raspberry begged. "Can we join?"

"Sorry," Gemstone replied. "Only ponies with an IQ over twenty are allowed."

She and the foals surrounding her laughed. The triplets gazed up at the unicorn with wide, disbelieving eyes. They whimpered as tears started to form.

"Not cool, Gem!" Prism said, standing defensively in front of her friends.

"No flightless pegasi allowed either," Gemstone said, turning up her nose. "So off with you, Prism! Or should I say..._Penguin_?!"

Her posse laughed again.

"Good one, Gem!" Kicks declared. "I knew you were cooler than those lame blank flanks!"

Prism scowled at the unicorn as she hustled the triplets away. "Come on, guys. Let's get out of here. This spot stinks."

Gemstone stopped laughing. "Excuse me?! Are you saying I smell?"

The pegasus turned back to her. "Yeah! Yeah, you smell! Smell of heel! And dirty double-crossing!"

The unicorn stood up. "Why, you..."

"Cool it, Gem," Kicks said. "They're just breathing hot air! They can't do anything! They're a bunch of losers!"

Prism sent them all a dirty look before turning back to her friends.

"She..." Blueberry uttered. "She just called us...dumb."

"Don't worry, guys," Prism assured them. "It's just Gemstone being more of a snob than usual. It's nothing we can't handle."

* * *

Blueberry yelped as she felt something nick the back of her neck. She turned around to find the source, but could not pinpoint it. That is, until she saw Kicks whistling and holding something behind his back. Prism mouthed the words "pea shooter" and Blueberry understood. Then the pegasus tilted her head towards Gemstone, who was smiling in triumph.

Raspberry cried out as the colt behind her yanked at her hair. Cheerilee turned from the blackboard.

"Is something wrong, Raspberry?"

"I..."

She trailed off when she saw Blueberry out of the corner of her eye, shaking her head.

"No, nothing's wrong, Mrs. Cheerilee," Raspberry calmly replied.

From the back of the room, Prism sighed in disappointment.

The bell rang, but as the triplets rose from their seats, they tripped and fell face first to the floor. Their classmates laughed as they stepped over them.

"Birds of a feather," Gemstone smirked as she passed them, "flop together!"

Cheerilee knelt down to help the Tri-Pies up. They were all on the verge of crying. Prism rushed to assist the teacher.

"However did this happen?" Cheerilee asked as she examined the shoelaces tied around the triplets' hooves.

"It was..." Prism started to say.

"I guess we're just clumsy," Blueberry said.

"Yeah," the other two said, nodding their heads.

Prism looked at them in disbelief.

"But you three aren't even wearing shoes," Cheerilee observed.

"You know us," Blueberry shrugged. "We do crazy stuff for no reason whatsoever."

"Are you sure the three of you are alright?"

"Yes!" Cherry said unsurely. "We're fine!"

The teacher did not believe them, but if they were not going to come out with their problems, there was nothing she could do. So after untying their hooves, she sent them off to recess.

"Why didn't you tell her it was Gemstone and her goons?!" Prism whispered harshly.

"Mommy told us to be nice to Gemstone," Blueberry explained.

"But she's being a jerk! That's worse than a snob! You can't take this mockery! You can't..."

She trailed off when she heard the snickers behind her.

"What are you all laughing at?!" she demanded.

"Nothing," one colt admitted.

She caught his eyes wandering to her flank and turned to see a piece of paper attached to her tail. She tugged it off and saw that it was a drawing of a penguin. It was signed with the initial "G."

"That does it!" Prism cried, crumpling the paper. "This means war!"

* * *

"Why is she being so mean to us?" Cherry asked when they were all back at the clubhouse. "I thought we were friends!"

"She was never our friend!" Prism declared as she paced around the room. "And even if she was, she's certainly not our friend now! We gotta get back at her somehow!"

"But Mommy said revenge doesn't solve anything," Raspberry said.

"Unless it's on a mean-meanie-pants!" Cherry reminded her. "And Gem's been one big mean-meanie-pants!"

"It's settled then!" Prism exclaimed. "Any pony have any ideas?"

"Maybe the memory book can give us something!" Blueberry suggested.

The blue filly opened the leather-bound book and flipped through the pages.

"Look at this!" she cried, pointing to a picture of Applebloom, Sweetie Belle (covered in gold glitter) and Scootaloo in front of a giant golden apple. "It says: _Getting revenge on Bad Seed_. And on the next page is a diagram of how they built this! It's a float of some sort, designed to go all haywire when the timer goes off, causing the driver to crash! Ingenious design!"

"That's it!" Prism announced. "That's what we'll do!"

"Build a parade float?" Cherry asked.

"Yea..." She smacked herself in the forehead. "No! We'll get Gemstone back with an elaborate, ingenious prank that is so ingenious that no pony will figure out it was us! But what sort of prank?"

"We could swing by The Party Palace," Raspberry suggested. "Daddy always has lots of material for pranks."

"Yeah, but we need to plan what we're going to do before we get the equipment."

She stood in the thinking spot and started tapping her chin. Then she gasped and leapt into the air, her head hitting the lantern, causing it to light up.

"I've got it!"

She glanced down at the target.

"This really is a good spot for thinking up ideas."

* * *

When the fillies and colts entered the classroom the next morning, the Tri-Pies and Prism were already in their seats, sitting up straight with their hooves folded on their desks.

"Hey, losers!" Kicks whispered. "What are you all smiling about?"

"What's not to smile about?" Blueberry replied.

"We should all smile!" Cherry piped.

"And be a group of happy friends!" Raspberry exclaimed.

"Like pudding!" they said in unison.

Kicks stared at them in confusion, but then shook his head and went to his seat. Gemstone smirked at Prism as she sat beside her.

"Hello, Penguin," she mocked. "How are you? Is it too warm for you today?"

Prism smirked in return. "I was about to ask you the same thing, Ice Princess."

Gemstone raised her eyebrow at this comment and was about to respond when Cheerilee entered the room.

"Class, take your seats," she said. "Pass your homework to the front of the room."

As Prism passed her paper to Kicks, she glanced at Cherry and winked. Cherry looked over to Blueberry and did the same thing, as she did with Raspberry. Raspberry nodded and glanced down at her hoof. It was attached to a string, which she tugged on. The string climbed up the wall, across the ceiling to the spot above Gemstone's seat. It opened a latch, the only thing keeping the water contained in the bucket.

The water came cascading down on the unicorn and she cried out once she felt its stinging coldness on her head. The classmates turned around to see her hair drenched and flat. She shivered as she glanced around at them.

Prism started laughing. She was joined by the Tri-Pies and soon, the rest of the class.

"Wow, Gem!" the pegasus filly guffawed. "I knew you were a snob, but I didn't realize you were such a...drip!"

Gemstone stared at Prism and then at her mocking classmates. Even the ones she had thought her friends were laughing at her. Then she started crying, making her even wetter.

Cheerilee grabbed her coat off the rack and rushed to the filly's side.

"Children, stop it!" she commanded, wrapping the coat tightly around the filly.

The teacher glanced up at the mechanism on the ceiling. Her eyes followed the string to Raspberry's desk.

"Raspberry?"

The magenta filly stopped laughing, as did the rest of the class. She shrunk in her seat as Cheerilee walked up to her.

"Did you do this?"

Raspberry gulped as she looked up at her teacher's disappointed face.

"I...I..."

Prism could not see her friend take the fall for this, so she stood up in her seat.

"It's my fault, Mrs. Cheerilee!"

All eyes turned to her in surprise.

"It was my idea! I convinced Raspberry to go along with it! She didn't want to, I swear!"

"No," Raspberry sighed. "I...I wanted to."

Blueberry stood. "Me too! I was in on it too!"

Cherry followed her sister's example. "Me three! We were all in on it!"

Cheerilee scowled as she glanced between the bunch. "All of you, stay after class. I want a talk with your parents."

* * *

"They did _what_?!" Pinkie Pie shouted.

Scootaloo hung her head in shame, while Sweetie Belle's eyes were still wide in shock. Since Rarity and Fancy Pants were in Canterlot on business, she was left to watch Gemstone.

"I don't understand!" the unicorn mare said, turning to her best friend. "Why would your niece do this to my niece?"

"I don't know!" Scootaloo cried. "All I know is that those two never seem to get along!"

"Humph!" Sweetie Belle huffed. "Maybe it would help if Prism was nicer to Gemstone!"

"Don't give me that! It's Gemstone who acts like she's better than every pony!"

"Enough!" Cheerilee shouted, silencing all of them. "From what I've witnessed, it seems that Prism and the triplets have recently been bullied."

"_Bullied_?!" the three mares gasped.

"My poor little fruity pies!" Pinkie cried.

"Yesterday," Cheerilee explained, "the triplets were tripped out of their seats because their hooves were tied together, and I saw a drawing of a penguin pinned to Prism's tail at recess."

Scootaloo put her hoof to her head. "Oh, RJ..."

"What about Gemstone?" Sweetie Belle inquired.

"Well," the teacher said slowly, "my guess is that Gemstone was the one bullying them."

"What?! Not _my_ Gemstone! She would never act so vulgarly! Wow. I'm sounding a lot like my sister."

"But why?" Pinkie pleaded. "Why would your niece want to pick on my sweet little cutie pies?"

"Cutie..." Scootaloo muttered. She narrowed her eyes. "I think I have an idea of what's going on here. Pinkie, go get Applebloom and tell her to meet us at the clubhouse. We'll take care of this problem. Sweetie Belle, we need to have a talk with our nieces."

* * *

The entire time, Prism, Gemstone and the Tri-Pies had been waiting outside on the steps, neither of them saying anything. When the grown-ups came out, they faced them, prepared for a long lecture. They were all glaring down at them.

"Prism," Scootaloo said sternly. "Why did you dump ice water all over Gemstone?"

The pegasus filly glanced down at her hooves. "She was being mean to me and my friends."

"Is this true, Gemstone?" Sweetie Belle asked, turning to her niece.

The unicorn filly hung her head. "Yes. But only because they wouldn't let me into their club!"

"What?" Blueberry uttered.

"We never said you weren't allowed in our club!" Raspberry proclaimed.

"Yeah!" Cherry agreed. "You didn't even ask us!"

"And Prism said you didn't want to join!"

"Um," Prism laughed nervously. "I kind of said..."

Scootaloo shook her head. "Come with us, girls."

* * *

When the group approached the clubhouse, Applebloom was standing at the entrance.

"There y'all are!" she exclaimed. "Now what's this I hear about excludin' some pony from the Cutie Mark Crusaders?"

"They wouldn't let me join!" Gemstone declared.

"Only because she's so prissy!" Prism argued.

Applebloom sighed. "Come up here. We've got somethin' to show y'all."

When they reached the top, Applebloom was holding open the rule book.

"Didn't y'all read this thing?" she inquired. "Rule 16 states that no blank flank is to be discriminated based on their species, gender or background!"

"I didn't let her in because she's a pest!" Prism proclaimed. "And I'm certainly not letting her in now after the way she treated us!"

"You didn't treat me any better!" Gemstone insisted. "You would never let me play with you!"

"Because you always made a fuss and acted like you were better than us! We don't care if you were a big shot back in Canterlot!"

Sweetie Belle scrunched her nose. "Big shot? Gemstone hated her school in Canterlot, what with all the ponies..."

"Stop!" Gemstone cried.

Prism tilted her head as she saw the tears form in the unicorn's eyes.

"What's she talking about?"

Gemstone looked up towards the pegasus and sighed.

"The truth is...no pony really liked me in Canterlot. Sure, Fancy Pants is my father, but my mother...the country mare. They kept saying I wasn't a real Canterlot pony, and when my cutie mark didn't show up when it should have...things got worse."

She turned away to hide her tears.

"Is that why you were always such a snob to us?" Prism asked.

Scootaloo poked her in the side. "Prism!"

"No, she's right!" Gemstone exclaimed. "I...I didn't want to be ridiculed like I was back in Canterlot. Though...honestly...the four of you were the only fillies who were ever nice to me, even you, Pen...err, Prism. I wanted to be your friends. Really, I did. But I didn't know how to make friends. After how I've treated you, I doubt that will ever be possible."

Prism had never seen this side of the unicorn before. She had cried, but it was always overly dramatic and over something insignificant. The tears she shed now were sincere. It was ironic how Gemstone had always gotten on her nerves, when in truth, they were a lot alike.

"I guess I'm the one at fault here," Prism said, laying a hoof on her shoulder. "I'm the one who wasn't willing to give you a chance. I thought giving you a taste of your own medicine was the answer, but that only got me into trouble. What's worse," she glanced at the triplets, "I dragged my best friends into it. Well, no more. I'm willing to give you a second chance if you'll give me one. So what do you say? Friends?"

Gemstone turned to Prism and smiled. "Friends."

The Tri-Pies sniffed as the two embraced each other.

"Aw!" they uttered.

"But wait a minute," Prism said, looking up at Scootaloo. "The memory book said that the best way to take care of a bully is to get revenge!"

"What?" Scootaloo said, raising an eyebrow. "Where does it say that?"

"Here!" Blueberry said, flipping through the memory book. "Right here! It shows you getting revenge on some pony named Bad Seed!"

The three mares glanced over at the photo and then laughed.

"You girls didn't look at the next page!" Applebloom said, turning the page over.

There was a clipping from _The Foal Free Press_ which included a photo of the three of them covered in mud, the golden apple float sinking in the pigsty behind them. Scrawled underneath were the words: _Revenge: stupidest idea ever._

"Revenge is never sweet," said Sweetie Belle.

"And you should know," Applebloom said, "that 'Bad Seed' was my cousin Babs and after the parade, we made up, because we found out she was bein' bullied for her blank flank back in Manehattan." She turned the page to their group shot. "Then we made her a Cutie Mark Crusader!"

"Wait a moment!" Cherry said, scratching her head. "This story sounds familiar..."

The others laughed and Prism looked to Gemstone.

"I guess we've both been acting pretty stupid, huh?"

The unicorn nodded. "Indeed. Though...I think I was much worse."

"No, I think _I_ was more of an idiot."

"No, you weren't."

"Yes, I was."

"No, you weren't!"

"Yes, I was!"

Gemstone giggled. "No, you weren't!"

"I was!" Prism declared, laughing along with her.

"Well," Scootaloo said, putting her hooves around the two fillies. "I'm glad to see that you two are friends. And Prism, you must remember, if you guys are going to be Cutie Mark Crusaders, you have to live by the code." She handed her the rule book. "So study it."

The pegasus filly grunted. "Homework."

Her aunt grinned. "And I don't want to hear anything else about excluding other ponies, understand?"

The two nodded.

"Good. Now, I believe you gals are due for an initiation."

"Right!" Prism held up the rule book. "Who wants to read the pledge?"

"Ooh, ooh!" Cherry chimed. "Can I stand at the judging table?"

* * *

"_I will wear my cape with pride_," Cherry read while standing at the podium, "_and keep the secrets of the Cutie Mark Crusaders within the walls of the clubhouse until the day I earn my cutie mark_."

"_I will wear my cape with pride and keep the secrets of the Cutie Mark Crusaders within the walls of the clubhouse until the day I earn my cutie mark_," Gemstone repeated with her right hoof raised.

"And I will stand on my head and do the Pony Pokey."

"And I will stand on my head and...what?"

Cherry snorted. "Just messing with you! Welcome to the Cutie Mark Crusaders!"

Blueberry and Raspberry cheered as they draped the cape over Gemstone's shoulders.

"Now we can take the group photo!" Blueberry exclaimed.

The five fillies hurried outside to where Applebloom, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle and Pinkie Pie were waiting with a camera.

"Say 'pickles!'" Pinkie shouted.

The Crusaders huddled together and put their hooves around each other.

"Pickles!"

The pink pony snapped the photo that would be placed in the memory book, a photo that marked the end of a rivalry and the beginning of a life-long friendship.

* * *

**I tried not to make this too much like "One Bad Apple," I hope it's satisfactory.**


	3. Trial and Error

**I'm going to be slow on updates for all stories for the next couple of weeks, because of exams and final semester projects.**

* * *

It was a bright Saturday morning and the new Cutie Mark Crusaders were in their clubhouse, holding their first official meeting since the initiation of their newest member. The pegasus Prism stood at the podium, the earth pony triplets and the unicorn Gemstone gathered on the floor in front of her.

"Okay, Crusaders!" Prism announced. "As your leader, I get to list the first order of business..."

"Hold on a moment!" Gemstone exclaimed, raising her hoof. "Who elected _you_ leader?"

The pegasus blinked. "No pony. I just thought since this whole thing was my idea..."

"Why can't _I_ be leader?"

"Actually," Blueberry said, "neither of you can be leader." She held up the rule book. "Rule 5 states that a single pony cannot run the club. Power must be divided equally among all members."

"Oh," Prism uttered, her shoulders sagging. "Okay, so I won't be leader. How about I be...Spokespony instead?"

Cherry tilted her head. "What does a spokespony do?"

"You know. Speaks. Makes speeches, runs meetings..."

"Why does it have to be you?" Gemstone argued.

The pegasus smacked herself in the forehead. "Don't tell me _you _want to be Spokespony too!"

"Not particularly, but why do you get a fancy position?"

"Tell you what. We'll all get positions. That'll be our first order of business. Blueberry, does the rulebook say anything about positions?"

Blueberry did not even glance at the book to answer. "Rule 6 says that it's okay for each member to have particular responsibilities, such as Secretary and Treasurer. However, since there are five of us, we're going to need to come up with some new responsibilities."

"What's a secretary?" Raspberry asked.

"The secretary basically records everything that happens at meetings."

"Ooh! Can I do that? I can write _really_ fast!"

"It's true," Cherry nodded. "She can."

"Okay," Prism said. "Raspberry will be Secretary."

"Awesome!" the magenta pony cried.

She brought out a notepad and pencil and started scribbling.

"Did you have that all along?" Gemstone inquired, raising an eyebrow.

"Yep!" Raspberry chimed, her scribbling hoof not missing a beat. "I always carry a notebook and pencil with me! Don't you?"

Prism stared at the magenta filly for a long time and then shook her head. "So who wants to be treasurer?"

"What does she do?" Cherry asked.

"The treasurer manages money," Blueberry replied, "and comes up with ways to get money."

Gemstone gasped. "Can I do that? My father has plenty of money we could use!"

"Why would we need money?" Prism inquired.

"Well," said Blueberry, "we'll need snacks and equipment for earning our cutie marks."

"Good point. Alright, Gem, you're treasurer."

While Gemstone squealed with delight, Prism glanced between the rule book and Blueberry.

"Hey, Blue," she said. "Did you memorize that entire book?"

"Uh-huh!" Blueberry nodded.

"Incredible. Hey! That could be your job! Remembering all the rules and making sure we follow them! What do they call ponies who do that?"

The five fillies tapped their chins in thought.

"I think they're called lawyers," Cherry said.

"Right!" said Prism. "Blueberry can be our, err, lawyer."

"I've got a better idea!" Blueberry declared. "How about I be Chief Law Memorizer and Enforcer?"

"Yeah!" her sisters cheered.

The other two fillies blinked at her.

"Um..." Prism uttered. "Okay. That just leaves Cherry. Let's see... What can she do?"

"Ooh!" Cherry squealed. "I can touch my nose with my tongue!"

As she demonstrated, Prism just shook her head.

"I mean what can you do to help the club?"

Cherry thought for a moment. "Ooh! I really like standing at that judging table and shouting 'Order in the court!'"

"There is a set of rules on the judiciary process in the book," Blueberry explained. "If any pony is accused of breaking the code, they have a right to a trial and we'll need a judge for that."

"That settles it then!" Prism exclaimed. "Cherry can be our judge!"

"Yes!" Cherry cheered.

"You got all that, Raspberry?"

"One second!" Raspberry cried. "How do you spell 'judiciary?'"

After Blueberry had spelt the word out for her sister, Prism announced the second order of business:

"So today, we were supposed to bring ideas on how we can earn our cutie marks. I'll go first. Obviously, because I come from an awesome family, my cutie mark should be just as awesome! Flying is not an option at the moment, since my wings aren't fully grown yet and you guys don't have wings. So I thought we could all try something awesome, like...rollerblading!"

"Cool!" the triplets chimed.

"Rollerblading?" Gemstone repeated. "But I've never been rollerblading in my life!"

"Hey," Prism said, "we all agreed we were going to try out each other's ideas, no matter what. What? You got a better idea?"

"As a matter of fact, I do! I talked with my mother and she said she could give us all some sewing tips. I thought we could all make our own dresses!"

"Wow!" the triplets said in awe.

Prism scrunched her nose in disgust. "Dressmaking? Blech! No way! There is no way I'm getting a cutie mark in something girly!"

"Hey!" Gemstone cried. "If I'm going to be running around in filthy roller skates, you can stand to make a few dresses!"

"But I hate dresses! They're so uncomfortable!"

"Well, fine. You don't have to necessarily make a dress, but I want to learn how to sew."

Prism turned to the triplets. "Tell me you guys have a better idea than hers."

"Well," Blueberry said, "we thought that since our Mom is such a great baker..."

"And we help her all the time..." Raspberry continued.

"She could teach us all how to make cupcakes!" Cherry finished, clapping her hooves.

The pegasus licked her lips. "Mmm. I like that idea!"

"Me too!" Gemstone declared. Prism raised an eyebrow at her. "What? I like cupcakes too."

"Okay then. We've got some ideas, so let's go out and get our cutie marks!"

* * *

Pinkie spat out the cupcakes Gemstone had made.

"Geez!" the pink pony cried, trying to rub the taste off her tongue. "Gem, I think you put in too much salt!"

"But I followed the recipe!" the unicorn insisted. "I forgot the song you sang, so I looked in a book. It said to put in a punch of salt."

"A _pinch_ of salt, Gem!" Prism exclaimed, holding up the cookbook. "A _pinch_! How in the world do you measure a _punch_ of salt?"

Gemstone glanced at the ground. "Well...I kind of...dipped my hoof in the salt and, err...punched the batter."

The pegasus put her hoof to her forehead. "What else did you put in?"

"Well, it said put in flowers...and to add sweat and sores...I put in jaw breakers, because they make my teeth sore and..."

"Good grief!"

"Oh, as if _your_ cupcakes are any better!"

Prism cringed as she glanced over at her tin of ash. "Yeah. I don't think baking's my talent."

"It burns!" Pinkie screamed as she poured water on her tongue.

"Okay, I get it!" Gemstone groaned.

"Here, Mom!" Cherry said. "Try one of our cupcakes!"

Blueberry stopped her mother's screaming by shoving a cupcake into her mouth. Pinkie chewed curiously on the baked good and then grinned widely.

She swallowed and exclaimed, "Great job, girls! These cupcakes are delicious! I guess too many cooks _doesn't_ spoil the broth!"

"But we weren't making broth," Raspberry pointed out.

"It's an expression, Raspberry," Blueberry explained.

Cherry gasped. "If our cupcakes were great, does that mean...?"

They all glanced at their flanks. They waited for several moments, their faces smiling eagerly. Those smiles faded when nothing appeared.

"Oh, well," Gemstone said with a shrug. "Looks like it's off to Carousel Boutique!"

* * *

Rarity cringed as she gazed at the Tri-Pies' creation.

"Well, girls, it's very...original."

"We couldn't design which of our designs to go for," Blueberry explained.

"They were all so awesome!" Cherry chimed.

"So we thought it would be even more awesome if we combined them all!" Raspberry finished.

"I can see that," the fashionista muttered.

The dress was like an entire circus merged into one outfit. One sleeve was hot pink and puffy, with far too many ribbons. The other sleeve was made of red sequins. The bodice was made of blue leather, decorated with lollipops, and in the back was a grass hula skirt.

The triplets looked back at their rumps, but hung their heads when they saw they were still blank. Rarity went to look at her daughter's project. Gemstone looked apologetically at her mother as she held up her three-legged outfit.

"That's alright, darling," Rarity said, tenderly placing her hoof on her daughter's head. "The fashion business isn't for every pony. Prism, how's it going over...?"

She gasped at the sight. Prism grunted as she struggled to pull one of her feathers (still attached to her wing) out of the sewing machine. After several tugs, she looked pleadingly toward Rarity.

"Help."

* * *

"I'm not putting those on!" Gemstone declared, shrinking away from the skates. "They were on some pony else's icky hooves!"

Prism sighed and skated over to her. "Don't be a baby, Gem! It's not like they had athlete's hoof or something."

"Ew!"

Scootaloo, who had come along to teach Gemstone how to skate, put an assuring hoof on the unicorn's shoulder.

"Chill, Gem. They disinfect the skates the minute they're returned. You won't get any hoof germs."

"You promise?" Gemstone asked with trusting eyes.

"Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."

"Well, alright."

While Scootaloo helped Gemstone put on her roller blades, the Tri-Pies whirled past Prism, nearly knocking her over.

"How in the hay do they go so fast?!" Prism exclaimed.

The triplets scooted to a halt when they came around the second time.

"You want a race, Prism?" Raspberry asked.

"It'll be fun!" Cherry chimed.

"You think I'm stupid?" Prism huffed. "I already know you three are gonna tie for first!"

Blueberry smirked. "Chicken."

The pegasus stiffened. "What did you call me?"

"Bawk, bawk, bawk!" the three taunted, flapping their elbows.

"Oh, it is so on!"

The four fillies lined up and crouched down in preparation.

"Okay!" Prism cried. "On the count of three!"

"One!" said Blueberry.

"Two!" said Raspberry.

"THREE!" Cherry squealed.

And they were off. Meanwhile, Scootaloo was guiding Gemstone into the rink. The unicorn wobbled as she set all four skates on the floor, but the pegasus mare held her steady. She told the filly to keep her knees slightly bent and to keep her legs parallel to each other. After a few more instructions, Scootaloo gently pushed Gemstone along the wall of the rink.

"You want to try it on your own?" Scootaloo asked.

The unicorn gulped and nodded. The mare then slowly released her and Gemstone shut her eyes tight. She thought she was going to crash, but she kept going. She curiously opened one eye and then the other.

"Hey!" Gemstone exclaimed, looking back at Scootaloo. "I think I'm getting the hang of this!"

She made the mistake of lifting her front hooves and waving them about excitedly.

"Gem, stop!" Scootaloo shouted.

The unicorn cried out as her hind legs wobbled. What was worse, Prism and the triplets were coming up behind her and were going so fast they did not have time to stop.

"Gem, get out of the way!" Prism called.

But neither of them could get control of their skates. Prism shut her eyes as they collided into each other, fell to the side and crashed into Blueberry, toppling Raspberry over in a domino effect. Cherry was only just far enough for Raspberry to miss her, but when she saw the other four fillies in a pile, she squealed with delight.

"Oh boy! Pony pile!"

Prism's eyes widened in panick. "Oh, no, Cherry! Don't!"

Cherry crouched down low and sprung into the air. The others gasped and waved their hooves frantically.

"Cherry, stop!" her sisters cried.

"No, no, no, no, no!" Prism and Gemstone repeatedly yelled.

"CHERRY BOMB!"

* * *

"You _had_ to do the Cherry Bomb, didn't you?" Prism grunted as she pressed the icepack to her shoulder.

"Well, how was I supposed to know it was gonna dislocate your shoulder?" Cherry said, rolling her eyes.

"You're lucky nothing was broken," Gemstone said, gently massaging her bandaged leg, "or else my father would've sued! How come you three didn't get any injuries?"

"Easy!" Blueberry piped. "Our great-great grandfather was a contortionist! So we have a bit of elasticness in our genes!"

"But Blue," Raspberry said, "we don't wear jeans."

"No more rollerblading!" Gemstone insisted. "No more dumb ideas involving extreme sports of any kind!"

"Hey!" Prism exclaimed. "It wasn't a dumb idea! You're just a terrible skater!"

"It was my first time! Give me a break!"

"Sure! How about the one in my shoulder?!"

"You know, if you had slowed down..."

"If had gotten out of the way when I told you..."

"Enough!" Scootaloo shouted, slamming her hoof on the table. "Don't go pointing hooves at each other! It was no pony's fault! These accidents happen!"

Pumpkin Cake had been standing there awkwardly the entire time. She had to cough for Scootaloo to finally notice her.

"Sorry," she said. "These kids have had a rough day."

"I know just the thing," Pumpkin Cake said, going into the kitchen.

"I guess it doesn't matter whose fault it was," Prism said with a sigh, "but we still don't have our cutie marks."

"I'm surprised the Tri-Pies haven't gotten theirs yet," Gemstone admitted. "I mean their cupcakes were spectacular and they were really fast on roller blades."

"I don't know why we don't have them either," Blueberry said, shaking her head.

"Here," Pumpkin Cake said, handing them all a milkshake (a big one with three straws for the triplets to share). "Nothing like a good ol' chocolate shake to brighten up your day."

The Tri-Pies squealed in happiness as they simultaneously sucked through their straws. Gemstone and Prism sucked through theirs half-heartedly.

"We're failures," the latter grumbled.

"To be fair," Scootaloo said, "you guys have only been at this for a day, and you can't expect to all get cutie marks in the same thing."

"Yeah, but we were hoping at least one of us could earn it today."

"Hey. It took a while for us too. Your cutie marks will appear when they appear. I mean there's nothing wrong with trying new things, but you should really think about what you're already good at."

Prism groaned. "But I'm not good at _anything_! I can't fly, I can't bake, I can't sew, I can't skate fast..."

"Just because you're not good at those things, doesn't mean you're not good at anything. You have a talent. You all do. You just haven't realized it yet. But hey, even if you didn't get your cutie marks, you got a few laughs today."

The five fillies glanced at each other.

"She's right," Blueberry snorted. "I mean did you _see_ that awful dress we made!"

The other triplets giggled.

"And when I did that Cherry Bomb and crushed all of you?" Cherry chimed. "That was so stupid of me!"

They clutched their stomachs as their laughter increased. Even Gemstone and Prism could not resist their contagious laughter.

"You remember Pinkie Pie's face when she tried my cupcakes?!" Gemstone snickered. "And I thought it was a _punch_ of salt! Really! Who's ever heard of a punch of salt?!"

"And when I got my wing caught in the sewing machine," Prism snorted, "and I was like 'Help me!' I was so pathetic!"

The fillies laughed and laughed as they relayed the embarrassing events of that day. Scootaloo chuckled along with them.

"You see?" she said. "Despite your failures, you girls had fun."

"Yeah," Prism nodded. "It was a fun day."

"Which is why you should stop obsessing about the future and enjoy the here and now."

"Right. Let's enjoy this moment, drink our milkshakes and be glad we're friends!"

They smiled in a long period of silence.

"So what crusading are we gonna do tomorrow?"

"Ooh!" Cherry squealed, raising her hoof. "Why don't we try cookies instead of cupcakes?"

"No more baking!" Gemstone insisted. "Maybe our talents are in beautifying! We could style each other's manes!"

"Boring!" Prism said, sticking out her tongue. "Skateboarding's gotta be it!"

"No! No extreme sports!"

As the five continued shooting ideas, Scootaloo shook her head with a chuckle. Some day, they would learn, but they were kids and they should have their fun together while it lasts.

* * *

**Felt like writing something light and fluffy, maybe a little cheesy at the end.**


	4. Words, Words, Words

**This story turned out to be more serious than the previous ones, but I think it diverts from what we expect from Cutie Mark Crusaders.**

* * *

"Well," Prism said, pulling the brambles out of her tail, "skateboarding was a bust."

"I told you," Gemstone grunted as she straightened out her blue mane.

"I, for one, thought it was fun!" Blueberry exclaimed, jumping up and down. "Did you see that 360 I did?"

"How about that grind I did on the railing?" Raspberry piped.

"And my kick flip combined with my Cherry Bomb?" Cherry chimed.

"And yet you three still don't have your cutie marks," Prism grumbled.

She and Gemstone walked sadly out of the skate park while the triplets bounced beside them.

"So what do we do now?" Gemstone asked. "Go to Sugar Cube Corner?"

"As much as I hate to admit it," Prism sighed, "I'm not in the mood for sweets right now."

"Ooh!" Raspberry exclaimed. "Auntie Twilight's in town! Why don't we go visit her at the library?"

"Yeah!" Blueberry agreed. "Maybe we can get cutie marks for being librarians!"

Gemstone stopped in her tracks. "The library? With..." she shivered, "books?"

"No way!" Prism protested. "We're not getting cutie marks in books! We're not nerds!"

"Yeah," Gemstone laughed. "Books are for...uh...what you said."

"Come on!" Raspberry begged. "You don't have to read or anything. We can just say hi to Auntie Twilight! I heard she got engaged this summer! I want to hear all the details!"

"Okay, fine," Prism grumbled. "We'll go see Aunt Twilight."

"Which way is the library again?" Gemstone asked.

"It's just over there on the left!" Blueberry exclaimed.

When they reached the end of the street, four of them turned left while Gemstone turned right.

"Hey, Gem!" Prism called. "This way!"

The unicorn turned around. "Oh, right! I mean left! I mean... Coming!"

They reached the large oak tree and knocked on the door. The purple alicorn opened it with her magic and glanced around for her visitor.

"Hello?" she called.

"Down here, Auntie Twilight!" Cherry chimed.

Twilight looked down at the fillies and smiled. "Hello, girls! Come on in!"

The triplets gazed in awe at the number of books surrounding them. Prism just yawned in boredom while Gemstone quivered in nervousness. Twilight looked the five over.

"You three have grown since last I saw you!" she declared. "How are the wings, Prism?"

Prism grunted, which was answer enough for the princess.

"And how do you like living in Ponyville so far, Gem?"

"It's fine," Gemstone said. "I have a lot of friends."

"Wow," Raspberry gasped, pointing at Twilight's horn. "Is that your engagement ring?"

The alicorn glanced up at the amethyst ring sitting on her horn. "Yes, Flash gave this to me about a month ago."

"When are you two getting married?"

"We're not sure yet. We're still in the middle of planning. So what brings you girls here?"

"We're Cutie Mark Crusaders now!" Cherry announced.

"Oh?" Twilight said. "I figured you girls would be next. Any luck so far?"

"Got a couple of bruises," Prism grumbled, "but still no cutie marks."

"We thought we could try being librarians!" Blueberry squeaked.

The alicorn's smile disappeared. "Oh?"

"Yeah!" Raspberry shouted. "And check out books and stuff!"

Twilight gasped when she saw that the magenta filly was standing on an unstable tower of books.

"Raspberry, watch out!"

The filly cried out as the tower wobbled and she lost her balance. Using her wings, Twilight caught her, but the books came crashing down on the other fillies. The alicorn gasped again.

"Are you girls alright?"

She sighed in relief as four heads poked out of the pile. Blueberry glanced up and saw an open book on her head. Curious, she lifted it off to look at it. On the cover was a blond mare in a green dress examining a broken clock. Blueberry read the title:

"_Nancy Horseshoe and the Secret of the Old Clock_."

Twilight grinned. "I love that series. That one's the first book."

"What's it about?" Blueberry inquired, flipping the book over to the back cover.

"It's about a teenage girl detective."

"What's a detective?"

"Some pony who solves mysteries, like missing watches or stolen money."

After reading the blurb, Blueberry was intrigued. "Can I borrow this, Auntie Twilight?"

The alicorn laughed. "Of course, you can! This is a library, after all!"

"What's this?" Raspberry said, picking up a book. "_The Frog Princess_? I've heard of a Frog Prince, but a Frog _Princess_?"

"Ooh!" Twilight exclaimed. "That book was one of my favorites as a filly! It's about a princess who kisses a frog, but instead of the frog turning into a prince, she turns into a frog."

"Sounds romantic!" the magenta filly squealed, holding the book to her chest. "Can I borrow this one?"

"Certainly."

"Hey!" Cherry said, diving into the pile of books. She emerged with a colorful comic. "Who are Bitsie and Vanilla?"

"They're teenage fillies who fight for the attention of a colt who can't decide between them."

The red filly opened to the first page and after reading a few lines let out a laugh. "They're funny!"

Twilight turned to the remaining two fillies. "Are there any books you girls would like to borrow?"

"Uh-uh!" Prism said, shaking her head wildly. "Reading's for nerds!"

The alicorn could not help but laugh. "Your mom said the exact same thing! Well, except she used the term 'egg-heads.' Maybe I should recommend you the same book. Has your mom ever read you _Daring-Do_?"

"Of course, she has! She reads to us every night!"

"Well, would you like to try reading it on your own?"

The pegasus filly paused as Twilight levitated _Daring-Do and the Quest for the Sapphire Stone_ out of the mess.

"Mom hasn't read that one in ages," Prism declared. "I don't remember much."

"Well, here," Twilight said as the book floated into Prism's hooves. "You can remind yourself." She turned to the unicorn. "Gemstone, would you...?"

She trailed off once she realized that Gemstone was no longer standing there. The library door was open and swinging in the breeze.

"Huh," she said. "I wonder what made her run off in such a hurry."

* * *

Gemstone panted heavily as she raced home. She had to get out of there. She could not be around those books, especially with the others talking so much about reading. She could not let them know. She did not want to risk losing her friends after just getting them back. She did not want them to make fun of her like the colts and fillies back in Canterlot. She had told her friends she was teased for her mother's background and her lack of a cutie mark, but those were only trivial matters compared to what she was really teased for.

She burst into Carousel Boutique, slammed the door behind her and pressed her back against it. She closed her eyes and let out a breath of relief. No books. No words. She was safe.

"Gemstone!"

Her eyes opened at the sound of her mother's voice. The unicorn mare stomped angrily into the room, her magic levitating a saddle bag and a piece of paper. Gemstone gasped.

"Uh oh."

Rarity scowled at her daughter. "Care to explain _this_?!"

She shoved the giant red 'F' in the filly's face.

"I'm sorry, Mother!" Gemstone cried. "I didn't want you to know..."

"We've talked about this, Gem!" Rarity shouted. "You promised you would do better! While spending time with friends and keeping yourself pretty are important things, your studies come first!"

"I _did_ study, Mother! I've tried! I swear!"

"Well, you're obviously not trying hard enough! Oh, I hate to tell your father about this..."

"No!" Gemstone begged, grabbing her mother's legs. "Don't tell Father! He'll be ashamed of me! Please! I promise I'll do better!"

Rarity looked down at her daughter with pity. "Alright, I won't tell your father, but if this keeps up, we're going to have to hire you a tutor and you'll be studying instead of playing with your friends."

Gemstone gasped.

"I'm sorry, darling, if I seem brash, but I'm only doing this because I love you and I want you to excel in life. You don't want to spend the rest of your life shoveling manure, do you?"

"Yuck!" the filly spat. "No!"

"Then please, get your grades up."

"I will, Mummy. I promise."

"Now, don't you have a spelling test tomorrow?"

"Mmm-hmm," Gemstone nodded.

"Would it make you feel better if I helped you study?"

"Mmm-hmm."

"Excellent! Now, where's that spelling list of yours?"

Rarity opened her daughter's bag and took out a piece of paper with several words on it. She pulled up two stools and they both sat down.

"Alright," Rarity said, clearing her throat. "Spell the word tea."

Gemstone sighed with relief. "Oh, that's easy. T-E-E."

"No, silly," her mother laughed. "I meant the drink, not the golf tee."

The filly blinked. "Is there a difference?"

Rarity's smile faded. "Yes."

"Oh, um...T-E...I?"

Her mother raised her eyebrow in concern. "Uh...let's move on. Spell locomotion."

Gemstone gulped and slowly recited, "L-O-W-K-U-H-M-O-W-S-H-N?"

"Oh, dear. Well, that's a long word anyway. Here's an easy one. Apple."

"A-P-O-L?"

"Uh...buiscuit?"

"B-I-S-K-I-T?"

"Castle?"

"K-A-S-L?"

"Pressure?"

"P-R-E-S-H-E-R?"

"Sweat?"

"S-W-E-H-T?"

"Embarrassed?"

"E-M-B-E-R-E-S-D?"

"CAT! For crying out loud, spell CAT!"

"K-A-T?"

Rarity let out an exasperated groan and fainted out of her seat. Gemstone gasped and rushed to her mother's side.

"Mummy?" she cried, nudging her mother's head. "Mummy? Are you alright? I was just kidding! Really, I was just kidding!"

"Really?" Rarity mumbled, her eyes fluttering open.

"Yes! It was a joke! Funny, right?"

The mare groaned as she sat upright. "Yes, funny. Now let's be serious and actually spell the words this time."

Gemstone bit her lip. "Um...actually, Mum, I think I'll just study on my own. Bye!"

She snatched the paper out of her mother's hoof before she could respond. The filly raced up the stairs and to her room, slamming the door behind her.

"Phew!" she sighed. "That was a close one. Alright, now to," she gulped as she glanced at the words on the paper, "study."

She sat at her vanity and squinted at the list. She tried to read it, but she could have sworn the letters were moving, even jumping off the page. After a while, she screamed in frustration and flopped her head down onto the vanity.

"What's the point?" she groaned. "No matter how much I study, I'm still going to fail!"

* * *

The bell rang, dismissing the class for the day. Gemstone was devastated. She knew she had failed the spelling test. She did not know how to spell any of the words Cheerilee had said. Her mother was going to be displeased.

She was sulking out the door when the teacher called her.

"Gemstone?"

The filly flinched and turned around.

"Yes, Mrs. Cheerilee?"

"Is everything alright at home?" Cheerilee asked sincerely.

"What?" Gemstone said, blinking in surprise.

"You seem a bit off today. Are your parents arguing again?"

"No, they're as fine as ever."

"Then why are you so upset?"

"I'm not upset!"

"I understand moving into an entirely new environment can be frustrating. I can understand if you're having difficulty adjusting..."

"I'm fine! Really!"

Cheerilee did not look like she believed her. "Well...alright, but if there is something troubling you, you can always come to me."

Gemstone wanted to tell her. She had known Cheerilee even before she moved to Ponyville and she was one of the nicest ponies around. However, she did not want her teacher thinking she was stupid, nor did she want to be given special attention. She just wanted to be treated like all the other students.

"I will, Mrs. Cheerilee," she lied.

The unicorn turned back to the door and quickened her pace before her teacher could ask anything further. Gemstone was not looking forward to homework tonight, because she had to read a chapter in her History book. Her mother had allowed her to spend one hour with her friends this afternoon, but she was to come straight home and do her homework afterward.

Gemstone had lost track of time while gazing at the beautiful apple trees and arrived at the clubhouse several minutes later than her friends. She gasped when she saw that they all had a book open in front of them. It was not their History books, but the books they had found at the library yesterday. Prism was the first one to look up from hers and notice the unicorn.

"Hey, Gem!"

The triplets then looked up at her.

"You should really read this _Nancy Horseshoe _book!" Blueberry insisted. "It's so exciting and mysterious!"

"Well, this _Frog Princess_ book is so silly and romantic!" said Raspberry.

"You think _that's_ silly and romantic," Cherry chimed, "check out Bitsie and Vanilla here! These characters are such crack-ups!"

Gemstone looked at Prism. "I thought you said reading was for nerds."

"Yeah, well," the pegasus shrugged, "I've been wrong before. I've forgotten how exciting the first _Daring-Do_ book was! I was up all night reading this! Well, until Aunt Scootaloo forced me to go to bed. I just can't put this down!"

"Why didn't you check out a book yesterday, Gem?" Blueberry inquired.

"Uh..." Gemstone uttered. "I'm too busy to read. Besides, shouldn't we be reading that chapter for History?"

Raspberry gasped. "Gosh, you're right! We should probably do that first, before we forget!"

"Why don't we all read it together?" Cherry cheerfully suggested. "We could take turns reading it aloud! It'll be fun!"

Gemstone cringed at what she had just gotten herself into. She was about to make an excuse to leave when the triplets pulled her to the floor and the five formed a circle. They brought out their History books and opened them to the chapter.

"Why don't you go first, Gemstone?" Prism suggested.

The unicorn bit her lip as she nervously glanced at the page.

"_Lanq..._" she uttered. "_aqo...im the...naqisal lanb af...Egue...Egue..._"

Her friends stared at her.

"Uh, Gem?" Prism said. "Can you read?"

"What?!" Gemstone screamed. "Of course, I can read! What do you think I am? An idiot?!" She slammed her book. "I've never been so insulted!"

"Gem, she didn't mean..." Blueberry started to say.

"If you need help..." said Raspberry.

"I don't need your help!" Gemstone cried as she stormed out of the clubhouse. "Because I'm not stupid!"

* * *

Gemstone wanted class to be over. She could not stand the concerned, pressuring gaze Prism was giving her, nor the struggle she was having deciphering what Cheerilee had written on the chalkboard. The unicorn's eyes kept wandering to the clock on the wall, as if staring at it would make the hands move faster. For a moment, she wondered what it would look like if the hands were encrusted with rubies. It would look fabulous if it also had sapphires studded around the frame.

"Gemstone?"

She jumped as Cheerilee's voice interrupted her from her thoughts. She looked up at her teacher to see a disappointed expression on her face.

"I'm very surprised at you, Gemstone," she said. "In all my years, I have never seen a student do this badly."

Gemstone glanced down at her desk and finally noticed the paper. The big red 'F' jumped out at her like a rabbit to a carrot. For a second, it looked like a 'E,' and then back to a 'F,' but she knew the letter all too well, no matter what it looked like.

"We'll talk about this after class," Cheerilee said.

As she said those words, memories of the first grade came flooding back to the unicorn.

"Who can spell the word cat?" the teacher asked the class. "Gemstone?"

"Um..." six-year-old Gemstone uttered. "K-A-T?"

The unicorn stallion raised an eyebrow. "Is this a joke, Miss Gemstone, or are you really that stupid?"

"It's not a joke!"

"Then you must be stupid!" one of the fillies exclaimed.

The Canterlot fillies and colts roared with laughter and pointed their hooves at her.

"Gemstone's a dumb-dumb!" they chanted. "Gemstone's a dumb-dumb!"

"Gemstone? Gemstone!"

Cheerilee's voice snapped her out of her trance.

"Are you alright?"

Gemstone could no longer hold back her tears. She bawled as she raced out of the classroom. Cheerilee called after her, but the unicorn filly did not look back. She would get in trouble for this, but she did not care. She did not care about anything, not even where she was going. She just wanted to keep running.

* * *

Rarity was in the middle of sewing a skirt when the bell above the door jingled. She turned her head to see who her customer was.

"Oh, Cheerilee!" she greeted with a smile. "What brings you here, darling?"

"I've come to see how Gemstone's doing," the concerned teacher said.

"Oh, I imagine she's fine."

"You mean she's not here?"

"Well, no. Usually around this time, she's playing with her Crusader friends. If this is about her grades, I've talked to her about..."

"She left class an hour ago in quite a frenzy!"

"What? Ow!" Rarity cried out as she pricked her hoof on her needle. "You mean she skipped out on class?"

"More like stormed out, with tears in her eyes!"

"I don't understand! That's not like Gemstone. What happened?"

"I had just given her back her spelling test and then she started crying. Then she just got up and ran out the door. I assumed she had gone home, but..."

"Spelling test? Oh, dear. Did she fail?"

"Well...I'm sure you've noticed she has been struggling in school lately..."

"It's always been this way! She never tries hard enough! Oh, what am I saying? My daughter's in hysterics and I'm criticizing her grades! I assure you, when she comes home..."

"Gem?!"

The mares turned as Prism and the Tri-Pies burst into the boutique.

"Is she okay?" Blueberry inquired.

"Is she in her room?" asked Raspberry.

"Can we see her?" Cherry begged.

"What are you talking about?" Rarity asked.

"When Gem ran out of class all worked up," Prism explained, "we thought maybe she had gone to the clubhouse or here. She wasn't at the clubhouse, so we came here. We wanted to see if she was okay!"

"Wait. If she's not with you and she's not with me..." Rarity stiffened. "Oh no. What if Gemstone's run away?! What if she's out alone on the streets?! What if she wandered into the Everfree Forest?! What if...?"

The unicorn started hyperventilating. Cheerilee put an assuring hoof on her back.

"Calm down!" she exclaimed. "We'll find her. I'm sure she just went to compose herself somewhere."

"Call the police!" Rarity shouted. "Call the Royal Guard! Call the Princesses! Call my husband! We have to find my daughter!"

* * *

Rarity's friends had all gathered together and split up to search for the lost unicorn filly. Twilight started her search in the library.

"Gemstone!" she called, digging under her piles of books.

Applejack and her family had separated the farm into sections so they could cover the entire area.

"Gemstone!"

Scootaloo and Prism searched the park.

"Gemstone!"

Thunder Dash and Lightning Dash scanned the terrain from the skies.

"Gemstone!"

Cheerilee and her daughter Apple Blossom searched the playground.

"Gemstone!"

The Tri-Pies poked their heads in the pond.

"Gemstone?" they called, their voices altered by the water.

Pinkie Pie and Red Shoes checked out all the hang-out spots, including Sugar Cube Corner. They, mostly Pinkie, spent the longest time "searching" through the desserts.

Discord, Fluttershy and Screwball searched the Everfree Forest.

"Gemstone!" Fluttershy called as she spread the bushes apart.

"Gemstone!" Screwball hollered as she pierced her head through the trunk of a tree.

"Gemstone?" said Discord as he peeked under a pebble.

Rarity and Fancy Pants called out their daughter's name in desperation as they went through all the stores in Ponyville. When they had no luck, Rarity cried into her husband's shoulder and he placed his hoof around her.

"Do not fret, my dear," he said. "We'll find her."

"Where can she be?" Rarity sobbed.

"Well," Fancy Pants said, tapping his chin, "whenever I got upset as a colt, I would run away to a special place, somewhere my parents would never think to look."

"Where?"

* * *

"What makes you think she's in the barn?" Applejack asked Fancy Pants.

"Yeah," Cinnamon Roll said. "Gemstone would never hide in such a messy place!"

"Precisely," Fancy Pants declared. "My parents would never dare to look for me in a dirty place. Of course, there were no barns in Canterlot, so I hid in the junkyard. If my Gemstone is anything like her father, she would have run to the dirtiest place in Ponyville."

"Gee, thanks," Applejack grumbled.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Rarity asked. "Let's go in!"

Fancy Pants held out his foreleg to stop her. "No, my dear. This situation must be handled delicately. I'll go talk to her."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. I think I know what the problem might be, and how to help her."

He stepped away from his wife and slowly entered the barn. The place smelled of manure and pigs, and those pigs were making noises. But there was another noise that did not belong to a pig. It was sobbing.

Fancy Pants followed the sound and looked up to see a tiny figure in the shadows of the hayloft. He climbed up the ladder and cautiously moved toward the figure. There was no mistaking the filly with the blue mane and white fur huddled in the corner with her back to him.

"Sweetheart?"

Gemstone gasped and turned her head around.

"Father?" she whimpered. "What are you doing up here?"

"I was about to ask you the same question," he said, sitting down beside her. "Your mother has half of Ponyville looking for you."

"I'm not going home!" she shouted. "Every pony thinks I'm stupid, including Mother! They don't say it aloud, but I know they think it!"

"You're not stupid, darling..."

"Yes, I am!"

"So you don't have the best grades. I didn't do so well in school for a while, and look how I..."

"I CAN'T READ, OKAY?!" she hollered as tears formed in her eyes again. "I can't! I really can't! I know I should be able to read right now, but I can't! I look at the words, and they move! I swear! They're out to get me! I can't spell either! I can't even spell CAT! I'm stupid! I'm stupid! They're all right! I'm stupid!"

She pounded the barn wall as she kept saying this and sobbed. Fancy Pants put his hoof around her and pulled her closer.

"Oh, dear, dear, dear," he whispered. "Why didn't you tell us this before?"

She sniffed. "I didn't want you to know I was stupid."

"You're not stupid, dear..."

"Yes, I am! Didn't you hear what I said?! I especially didn't want you to know, Daddy, because you're the smartest stallion in the world!"

Fancy Pants chuckled. "Actually, I had the same problem when I was your age."

Gemstone blinked. "What?"

"It's true. I had as much trouble reading and writing as you do. I thought I was an imbecile. I couldn't even tell my left from my right."

"Me too," the filly said in awe.

"I had to repeat the fourth grade because of it."

"Then how did you become so rich if you did bad in school?"

"For starters, honey, I was already rich. Well, my parents were anyway. And while I did badly in school, it wasn't my fault. I had dyslexia."

Her daughter scrunched her nose. "What's that? Is it a disease?! Do I have it too?! Are we going to die?!"

Fancy Pants laughed. "It's not a disease, dearest! It's a learning disability. Ponies who have dyslexia have trouble reading and spelling. Sometimes it's genetic, which would explain why you have it."

"You mean you can't read and write either?"

"Why do you think I have your mother read all my letters? When they found out I had dyslexia, my parents had me homeschooled by private tutors who were specialized with students with learning disabilities."

"Are you going to have me homeschooled? I don't want to be homeschooled! I want to go to school with my friends!"

"We're not going to have you homeschooled if you don't want to, sweetie."

"Then what are you going to do? I mean I still don't understand how you were the most important pony in Canterlot when you can't read."

"I kept it to myself, of course. There are other ways to succeed in life than being a good reader or writer. Why, a lot of successful ponies had dyslexia: painters, inventors...all of them working in fields that don't require a lot of reading. You can see I turned out fine, and I know you will do great things too."

Gemstone smiled. "Really?"

"Yes, but first, you must be honest with your friends and family and allow us to help you."

"You promise I won't be homeschooled or repeat a grade?"

"Of course, dearest. However, we will have to get you a tutor. I think your Auntie Twilight would be more than willing to help. And," he said with a wink, "you'll get to tell those colts and fillies back in Canterlot that you have a princess for a tutor."

New tears formed in Gemstone's eyes, but these were happy tears. She embraced her father as she felt a great sense of relief wash over her. She was not stupid. She was not abnormal. There were other ponies like her, and one of those ponies was her father.

"You're the best daddy in the world, you know that?" she said.

Fancy Pants grinned as he patted his daughter's head. "If I didn't know it before, I certainly do now."

* * *

After Fancy Pants had explained the situation to every pony, Rarity took Gemstone in her forelegs.

"Oh, my dear little Gemstone!" she wailed. "All this time, I thought you were lazy and not trying hard enough! Now I know that it wasn't your fault, I...I...I feel so guilty!"

"It's alright, Mummy," the filly said.

"But I should've known! Or at least have guessed! After all, I knew your father... Oh, Gemstone, I've been a terrible mother! Can you ever forgive me?"

"You're not a terrible mother and of course, I forgive you."

Her mother squeezed her even tighter.

Afterwards, arrangements were made. Twilight agreed to tutor Gemstone and help her with all homework involving reading and writing. The Cutie Mark Crusaders apologized for calling her out on her illiteracy and promised that they would help her as well. Cheerilee offered Gemstone extra time on her tests and assured her that she could always ask her if she was struggling with something. She would also let her do her reports orally instead of writing them down. She did one report explaining dyslexia to the class, so that they may understand that she was not stupid. Fancy Pants did his part by showing his daughter some tricks in deciphering words, like how sometimes what she thought was a 'b' was actually a 'd.'

It was because of all this help that Gemstone was able to get her grades up and her mother had her next report card framed and hung on the wall of the boutique.

The unicorn filly was happy, because she no longer felt like an idiot. She was never going to hold her problems back again, because now she knew that she could always count on her friends and family to help her get around them.

* * *

**I wanted to give Gemstone a character aspect that did not make her two-dimensional. I think I came up with the idea of dyslexia after she mixed up "punch" and "pinch" in the last chapter. It would also explain why she was so nervous about making friends. Part of this was inspired by an episode of _Arthur_ and I was going to end it the same way, but I decided to take a different approach. Instead the teacher explaining dyslexia to Gemstone, why not her father? I don't write much on Fancy Pants' character anyway, and after reading that dyslexia is sometimes genetic, why can't he have dyslexia too? Those who have dyslexia vary in background and personality. If you don't think it's possible for Fancy to have dyslexia, remember this is AU.**

**Yes, I made a reference to the Nancy Drew books as well as the _Frog Princess _series, which I love. I could tell you what the comic Cherry picks up is based on, but I can't really use their name on this site (which is why I changed the names of the characters).**


	5. Three of a Kind

**This was fun! Much lighter than the last chapter!**

* * *

"Eggs?" Blueberry Pie asked.

"Check," Raspberry said, checking the item off the list.

"Toast?"

"Check."

"One glass of orange juice?"

"Check."

"One glass of pineapple juice?"

"Check."

"Muffins? Blueberry, banana nut and poppy-seed?"

"Check, check and check!"

"Don't forget the special surprise!" Cherry exclaimed, peeking under the covered dish.

Raspberry nodded. "Special surprise, check."

"Party cannons ready to go!" Blueberry declared, proudly patting their three miniature cannons. "You got the card, Cherry?"

The red filly dragged the five-foot tall card into view. "Check!"

"Ooh!" Raspberry piped. "Flowers! Let's not forget the flowers!"

"I got it!"

Cherry zipped down the stairs and returned a few seconds later with a bouquet of freshly pulled daisies.

"You forgot a vase," Raspberry said as she took the flowers in her hoof.

"Oh! Right!"

Cherry zoomed downstairs again and came back with a vase. After placing the bouquet into the vase, the triplets gathered outside the door to their parents' bedroom. Blueberry put her hoof to her lips as she slowly opened the door. The three crept towards the couple snoring in the bed, Blueberry leading the way, Raspberry gently pushing the food cart and Cherry pushing the tiny blue, red and pink cannons.

Blueberry nodded to Raspberry, who nodded in return and rushed to the window. She pulled on the cord of the shade, rolling it upwards.

"Wh-wha...?" their father moaned as the sunlight came streaming into the room.

"SUR-PIES!" the triplets cheered. "HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!"

The girls fired their cannons simultaneously, shooting confetti in their parents' faces. Red Shoes rubbed his eyes wearily while Pinkie Pie bolted up in bed excitedly.

"Aw, girls!" she exclaimed, noticing cart of food. "You made us breakfast in bed?"

"And we made you a card!" Cherry piped as she dragged in the giant card.

The card was bright pink with a pop-up heart reading, "Happy 10th Anniversary!" The triplets opened the card to reveal a pop-up drawing of the five of them and a message on the left side saying, "To the best parents in all of Equestria!"

"Aw!" Pinkie said again. "You girls are such sweetie pies!"

"Though did it have to be so early?" Red Shoes asked tiredly as he glanced at the clock that read six a.m. "And on a Sunday too."

"We wanted you guys to have as much fun on your anniversary as possible!" Blueberry declared.

"And to do that, you have to wake up extra, extra early!" Cherry chimed, bouncing on the bed.

"After all, your anniversary is the most important day of your lives!" Raspberry insisted. "Next to your birthdays, of course. But if you guys hadn't gotten married, we wouldn't exist! So it's like...the birthday of our birthday!"

The light orange stallion with red hair shook his head with smile. "They really take after you, honey." He yawned. "Can't we do this in a couple hours though?"

He laid his head back on his pillow, only to be reawakened by a sharp blow to his shoulder.

"Get up, Sleepy Head!" Pinkie commanded. "This is no time for naps! Our girls worked hard on this! Besides, it's our anniversary! We should enjoy it, not sleep through it!"

"Okay, okay!" Red Shoes cried, sitting up. "What have you got to eat, girls?"

The Tri-Pies squealed as they rushed to the cart.

"We made you eggs," Blueberry said, "sunny-side-up, the way you like them."

"And toast," Raspberry continued, "with butter!"

"And your favorite juices! Orange for Daddy, pineapple for Mommy!"

"We got you blueberry muffins," Cherry listed, "poppy-seed muffins, banana nut muffins..."

"What's under there?" Red Shoes asked, pointing to the covered dish.

"Raspberry!" Blueberry exclaimed. "Drum roll, please!"

The magenta filly rapidly tapped her sticks on her snare drum (which seemed to have magically appeared in the room) as Cherry lifted the lid off the dish. Pinkie and Red gasped.

"You made _Baked Alaska_?!" the latter exclaimed.

"Uh-huh!" the three nodded at once.

"Found the recipe in one of Mom's cookbooks," Blueberry explained.

"We thought it would make your super special surprise anniversary breakfast extra super special!" said Raspberry.

"Hand me a plate of that, please!" Red Shoes insisted.

"Me too!" Pinkie exclaimed. "It looks delicious!"

Cherry cut them each a piece and set the plates and the two glasses of juice on a tray. They each took a bite. After a few chews, Red smiled in satisfaction while Pinkie Pie pressed her plate against her face and scarfed the rest of the dish down her throat. Her husband could not help but laugh.

"So what are you guys gonna do for your anniversary?" Blueberry inquired.

"Tell me you're gonna give Mom a gift, Dad!" Raspberry said. "You _have_ to give her a gift!"

"Relax, cutie," said Red. "Your mother and I have dinner plans at Sugar Cube Corner."

Cherry groaned. "You guys go there every year! Mommy's going to get bored if you keep taking her to the same place all the time!"

"Nuh-uh!" Pinkie piped as she licked the eggs off her face. "Sugar Cube Corner is the most romantic place in the world to us!"

"It's where we had our first date," Red explained as he put his hoof around his wife.

"I thought your first date was at Daddy's magic show," Raspberry said.

"That's where we first met. I didn't ask her out until a few days later, a decision that would change my life forever."

He gave Pinkie a quick peck on the cheek before returning to his meal.

"This is really good, girls," he complimented. "I wouldn't be surprised if you got cutie marks in cooking."

The Tri-Pies gasped and eagerly looked at their flanks. They waited for a few seconds before hanging their heads in sadness.

"Aw, bummer!" Raspberry exclaimed.

"Don't feel bad, girls," their father said. "You still have plenty of time before..."

"Maybe we didn't try enough recipes!" Cherry screeched.

"Let's bake some pies!" Blueberry suggested.

"Which flavor?" Raspberry asked.

"All of them!"

The triplets zipped out of the room, leaving their parents flabbergasted. Pinkie Pie chuckled.

"Don't we have such wonderful children, Red?"

"Indeed," her husband agreed. "Though did they have to be triplets?"

"You're right." She grinned slyly at him. "We should have more of them!"

She slid her hoof around him, only for him to pull away in panic.

"Never mind! Three's enough!"

* * *

"How's the blueberry pie?" Raspberry asked.

Blueberry took a nibble of her pie and grinned. "Yummy! And the raspberry?"

"Yummy in my tummy!"

"How about you, Cherry?"

"See previous answer!" Cherry chimed.

"And our flanks?"

They glanced at their rumps and, much to their disappointment, found that they were still blank.

"Hey!" Cherry exclaimed. "What if our talents aren't in pie making, but pie _e__ating_?"

"Pie eating contest!" Blueberry shouted, folding her hooves behind her back. "No hooves! Go!"

They dunked their heads in their pies and started munching. In less than a minute, they simultaneously lifted their messy faces up.

"Who won?" Raspberry asked.

"I think we're tied," Blueberry said with a sigh. "Again."

"But do we have our cutie marks?" Cherry wondered.

They looked at their behinds and groaned.

"I don't get it!" Cherry exclaimed. "Why don't we have our cutie marks yet? I mean we're good at cooking, eating, throwing parties, roller skating, skateboarding..."

"Maybe that's the problem," Blueberry suggested.

"What do you mean?" asked Raspberry.

"Maybe because we have so many talents, our cutie marks can't decide on just one."

Red Shoes then entered the room and glanced around at the messy kitchen.

"Now what happened in here?"

Raspberry sighed. "We were baking pies."

"And then we tied for a pie-eating contest," Blueberry grumbled.

"And we still don't have our cutie marks," Cherry groaned.

"Oh, girls," Red chuckled. "I told you. You still have plenty of time to get your cutie marks. You'll find your special talents eventually."

"But we already have so many talents as it is!" Blueberry insisted. "You've tasted our cooking, you've seen us throw parties, you've seen us battle changelings with confetti cannons! If those aren't special talents, I don't know what is!"

"Ooh!" Pinkie Pie squeaked, bouncing into the room. "Maybe your special talent is breaking the fourth wall!"

The triplets scrunched their noses and said, "What?"

"Here, I'll show you!"

Their mother turned to an empty space. "Hey, you! Yes, you on the computer! I'm talking to you, Brony! Or Pegasister, depending on whether you're a boy or girl. That's right! I know you're reading this!"

She tapped on a wall that did not appear to be there. The Tri-Pies looked at each other in confusion.

"Mom, who are you talking to?" Raspberry asked.

"The readers!" Pinkie replied. "Our audience! The people reading every single detail of our daily lives! Can't you seem them on their little computers, reading the words describing everything we say and do?"

The triplets raised their eyebrows.

"You feeling alright, Mom?" Blueberry inquired.

Cherry moved her hoof in a circular motion beside her head. Their mother sighed sadly.

"Oh, well. I guess you three don't have the gift. Too bad."

"Daddy, what's she talking about?" Blueberry asked their father.

"Don't question it, girls," Red Shoes replied. "Now back to your cutie marks. I'm glad you're all enthusiastic about them, but what makes you think you'll get your cutie marks in the same thing?"

"Why wouldn't we?" Raspberry inquired.

"I mean we're triplets!" Cherry exclaimed. "We're exactly the same! Well, except for our colors and names. Why shouldn't we have the same talents?"

"Girls, girls, girls," their father said, shaking his head. "Just because you're triplets, doesn't mean you're exactly alike. For instance, Blueberry, you..."

Blueberry gasped as she glanced at the calendar. "It's Sunday! Our library books are due today!"

Cherry and Raspberry let out equally dramatic gasps and the three of them zoomed out of their seats. Red Shoes stared at the empty chairs and sighed.

"They never let me finish."

"Next time, you should mention frosting," Pinkie suggested. "That always keeps _my_ attention!" She licked her lips and sighed dreamily. "Creamy, delicious frosting..."

Gemstone squinted at the words on the page, trying to decipher their meaning. After a while, she slammed her hoof on the desk.

"Auntie Twilight!" she called. "I can't figure out what this word is!"

Twilight put down her books for a moment and went over to the unicorn filly.

"Which one?"

"All of them!" She buried her face in her hooves. "Isn't there a spell that can just cure dyslexia?"

The alicorn shook her head. "I'm afraid not, Gem. However, I did just find a spell that is designed to help ponies with dyslexia. It temporarily translates all the words on the page into pictures, but only you will be able to see them, so you must tell me if it works. Do you want to try it?"

"Yes, please!" Gemstone begged.

Twilight glanced back at the spell book and then aimed her horn at Gemstone's History book. She shot a beam at it and the unicorn gasped as a moving image appeared above the book. She saw Princess Luna, who had just transformed into Nightmare Moon, and Princess Celestia battling for the throne.

"Oh, wow!" she marveled, leaning on the desk to watch. "Thanks, Auntie Twilight! Now I can get my homework done much quicker!"

The princess smiled. She knew that eventually, Gemstone would have to get around her inability to read, but until then, she needed another way of learning her lessons in order to pass her class.

The two of them jumped as the library door flung open and the Tri-Pies burst into the room.

"Are we late?" Blueberry asked.

Twilight chuckled. "Nope. You're right on time. Do you have your books with you?"

The triplets nodded and pulled their books out of their saddle bags.

"Did you enjoy them?" Twilight asked as she used her magic to place the books on their respective shelves.

"Uh-huh!" they nodded excitedly.

"Nancy Horseshoe is awesome!" Blueberry declared.

"I think Emma and Eadric are the cutest couple ever!" Raspberry exclaimed.

"And I can't stop laughing at Bitsie and Vanilla!" Cherry chimed.

"Then would you like to read more?" Twilight inquired.

They gasped. "There's _more_?!"

"Of course! _The Secret of the Old Clock_ and _The Frog Princess_ are the first books in their series, and I have lots more issues of _Bitsie and Vanilla_. Just one second."

Twilight levitated several books off the shelves and searched through them.

"Ugh," she groaned. "Things were so much easier when Spike was here twenty-four-seven! Ah! Here we go!"

She put the other books away, laying three out in front of the triplets.

"_Nancy Horseshoe and the Hidden Staircase, Dragon's Breath_ and the second issue of _Bitsie and Vanilla_. Enjoy!"

"Thanks, Auntie Twilight!" the triplets said before turning to the unicorn filly. "See you tomorrow, Gem!"

They squealed as they carried their books out of the library.

"I swear," Gemstone said, "those three might as well be one pony!"

* * *

On their way to Sugar Cube Corner, the Tri-Pies bumped into Fluttershy.

"Oh!" she exclaimed. "I'm sorry, girls! I didn't see you there!"

"That's okay, Auntie Fluttershy," Cherry said. "We weren't watching where we were going."

"Auntie Fluttershy," said Blueberry, "what do you think our special talents are?"

The pegasus blinked at them. "What a question! I think you three are all talented, adorable young fillies."

Raspberry gasped. "That's it! Maybe that's our special talent! Being adorable!"

Cherry rolled her eyes. "That's silly, Raspberry!"

"Yeah," Blueberry agreed. "What would some pony's cutie mark whose talent is being adorable even look like?"

"Us, of course!" Raspberry said, putting her hooves around her sisters.

"But we already know we're adorable! If that was our talent, we would've gotten our cutie marks ages ago!"

"I wouldn't worry about your cutie marks now," Fluttershy said. "You're only eight years old. I didn't get my cutie mark until I was a few years older than you. You just need to be patient."

Blueberry tilted her head in thought. "That's right. You were patient, and you turned out great."

"_And_ you're adorable!" Raspberry added.

Fluttershy beamed. "See? Your cutie marks will come in time. For now, just enjoy being young."

They kept their smiles on until the pegasus was out of sight.

"Why does every pony keep saying that?" Raspberry groaned.

"Cutie mark idea!" Cherry chimed. "Maybe our special talent is hoof racing! Last one to Sugar Cube Corner is a squished tomato!"

"You're on!" Blueberry exclaimed.

They formed a horizontal line and crouched down.

"On the count of three," Blueberry said. "One!"

"Two!" said Raspberry.

"THREE!" Cherry shouted.

The three were off like rockets. Ponies had to hold onto something as the energetic triplets whizzed by. Pumpkin Cake nearly dropped the milkshake she had been carrying as they burst into the store and skidded to a halt.

"I won!" Cherry announced.

"As if!" Raspberry snapped. "I was way faster than you!"

"No, I was!"

"No, I was!"

"Girls, stop!" Blueberry shouted. "We tied! Again!"

"But did we get our cutie marks?" Raspberry asked.

They turned their heads around, only to see the same blank flanks. Meanwhile, Pumpkin Cake had regained her balance and set the large milkshake down between the pink, spiral-eyed mare wearing propeller hat and the male changeling with blue cobweb-like hair.

"Sorry, about that," the waitress said.

"No problem," Screwball said with a shrug. "It's just the Tri-Pies being the Tri-Pies."

"So what is this?" the changeling asked.

"It's a chocolate milkshake. Sheesh, Mothball! Did you ever really get out of the hive?"

On the other side of the room, the Tri-Pies sat themselves down. Pumpkin Cake was about to take their order when she saw the sad expressions on their faces.

"Why so glum, chums?"

They simultaneously let out exasperated sighs.

"We can do a lot of things," Cherry declared.

"And we still don't have our cutie marks," said Raspberry.

"Well, what have you tried?" Pumpkin inquired.

"Baking, skateboarding..." Raspberry listed.

"Rollerblading, hoof racing..." Cherry continued.

"Break dancing, lawn mowing..." Blueberry added. "Lots of things! And we're good at them! So how come we don't have our cutie marks?"

"Wait," Pumpkin said. "Were you all expecting to get the exact same cutie marks?"

"Mmm-hmm," they nodded.

The unicorn giggled. "Oh, girls! The chances of that happening are pretty slim."

"But we're triplets!" Cherry insisted. "We're exactly the same! So we gotta have the same special talents!"

"Don't be silly. Just because you're triplets doesn't mean you're exactly the same."

"That's what Daddy said this morning!" said Raspberry.

"And he's right. Siblings are never exactly alike, not even twins or triplets. Take Pound Cake and me, for instance. He's a pegasus and I'm a unicorn. I like pumpkin cake, he likes pound cake. I prefer to wait tables, he prefers to stay in the kitchen. I played with dolls, he played with toy carts."

"That's different!" Cherry declared. "You two are boy and girl! We're all girls! And we're exactly alike!"

"It may seem that way now. You may be inseparable now, but when you grow up, your interests might change and you might take different paths."

"Nuh-uh!" they all insisted, shaking their heads.

Pumpkin Cake shrugged. "Okay then. Can I get you three anything?"

"Milkshakes!" they shouted.

"Alright. What flavors?"

"Cherry!"

"Raspberry!"

"Blueberry!"

The unicorn chuckled to herself. "Exactly the same, huh?"

* * *

As they exited Sugar Cube Corner, Raspberry looked sincerely at her sisters.

"Hey, guys," she said, "do you think Pumpkin Cake might be right about us...having different talents?"

"It can't be true," Cherry insisted.

"But what if it is? What if we _do_ have different careers? What if we...drift apart?"

"That'll never happen," said Blueberry as she put a hoof around each of her sisters. "We're the Tri-Pies! Sisters for life!"

"Best friends forever!" Cherry exclaimed.

"Three of a kind!"

"Exactly the same!"

Raspberry smiled. "You're right. I don't know what I was thinking. There's no difference between us whatsoever."

The triplets hugged each other and then continued on their way home.

"Oh, I can't wait to read Nancy Horseshoe's next mystery!" Blueberry declared. "I wonder what that hidden staircase is all about? Maybe she'll find an ancient treasure or an escaped convict hiding out underneath..."

"Well, I can't wait to see what happens to Emma and Eadric!" Raspberry exclaimed while Blueberry continued to talk. "I hope they get married in this one! Ooh! What if they break the spell that was put on...?"

"I wanna see if Orange Top will finally choose between Bitsie and Vanilla!" Cherry chimed, talking over the others. "It's gotta be Bitsie, because she's a lot nicer than Vanilla..."

"Or maybe she'll uncover the stolen crown jewels or something!"

"It's called _Dragon's Breath_! So there's gotta be dragons in it! Ooh! I hope Emma and Eadric kiss again!"

"I mean sure, Vanilla's rich, but she totally takes Orange Top for granted! Then again, she's a lot funnier than Bitsie!"

"Well, whatever happens, it's going to be so exciting!"

"It's going to be so romantic!"

"It's going to be so hilarious!"

They stopped in their tracks, confusion spread across their faces.

"What were we talking about?" Cherry wondered.

Raspberry scratched her head in thought. "I'm not sure."

"Me neither," Blueberry admitted. "Well, I don't know about you girls, but I wanna get home and read my book!"

"Me too!"

"Me three!" Cherry said, crouching down low. "Last one home is a stuffed banana!"

The other two stooped to her level.

"On the count of three," Blueberry said. "One!"

"Two!" said Raspberry.

"THREE!" Cherry shouted.

* * *

**I love writing about these three! They're so adorable!**

**Don't forget to vote for me for the Bronyland Pony Awards! In case you didn't know, I'm nominated for Best Author and Best Fimfiction for "Bride of Discord" and I would really appreciate your support.**


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